


Personal Demons

by Necey



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Demonstuck, Hints At Dubcon/Noncon, Humanstuck, M/M, Master/Slave Connotations, Multi, Trafficking Connotations, forced relationships - Freeform, none of that is the focus though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-16 04:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2256258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Necey/pseuds/Necey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eridan Ampora had always wanted a more exciting life, to take a break from the same routine year after year. If he had known that meant meeting a demon and trying to save the world, he probably would have shut the hell up and minded his own business.</p><p>Growing up is hard, it's hard and nobody understands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Alright everyone, settle down. The hike will be starting shortly.”

The summer sun beat down harshly on the group of kids gathered around a flagpole, the orange flag hanging limply in the stagnant air. Cabins surrounded them on all sides, decorated with colorful animals and banners. The Mystic Mountain Summer Camp is in full swing and you wish you were anywhere but here. All the kids in the group are around eight to fourteen years old, all but one. That would be you. You tower over the other kids and rightfully so, you’re seventeen. You’re too damn old for summer camp, but do your parents listen? No, not at all, they just ship you off so they can have a kid free summer. Not like they’re around the rest of the year either, too busy with business dinners and private yachts.

You stand off to the side of the group and grumble to yourself, glaring at any kid that even looks like they want to come over. Even when you’re not glaring you’re still squinting to keep everyone’s shirts from blinding you in the bright sunlight. The camps (mandatory) wardrobe had to be the worst part of your whole summer. Everyone wore shorts and bright orange t-shirts. You do not look good in shorts and orange, in fact it makes you look like a sickly pedophile when surrounded by little kids, like you are now. The orange clashes horribly with your pale skin and the purple streak in your hair and the shorts expose the rest of your legs for hungry bugs. You swear you lose several pounds every year to the damn bugs alone.

The councilors, a woman named Crystal and a man named Clem, are talking at the front of the group and they gesture you over. You groan and seriously consider not going but you end up trudging through the crowd of kids anyway.

“Eridan dear, could you stay at the back of the group and make sure none of the little ones try to sneak off?” Crystal asks you with a big smile. Before you can answer her, Clem claps his hand on your back hard enough to send you forward a step.

“Of course he will! Eridan’s our best camper after all. It’s so nice of you to be helping us this year.” He gives you an equally big smile and another clap on the shoulder.

“Sure, whatever.” You grumble, fixing your crooked glasses and heading to the back of the group as they organize everyone. The further away from the perpetual cheer machines you are the better.

Soon enough the whole group is heading into the thankfully dark forest. You’re finally able to stop squinting as the harsh sunlight turns into a soft dappled glow. Chattering from the kids and buzzing from the plethora of bugs fills the still air as you all walk through the dry leaves. The hike is always the same every year, first up the cliffs to the clear spring to get a drink of the freezing cold water, then back down to the meadow filled with fragrant wildflowers, and then on the way to the waterfall they always stop at the old abandoned cabin. Sure the route is pretty, but you’re really tired of it.

Today is no different, they follow the path like clockwork. As always, when they get to the old cabin they stop everyone so they can talk. It’s definitely a sobering backdrop, the cabin is falling apart. Vines and moss are overtaking the outside and all the windows had long ago been broken by the campers. The most interesting part of the building though had to be the door. There’s some satanic looking thing painted on it in what looks like blood but is probably spray paint.

“The only reason we’re showing you this cabin kids, is so you’ll know to stay away from it.” Clem says, “The building is rotting and it’s not safe for you to go inside.”

“Please be safe and avoid this area!” Crystal says cheerfully, “Now the path is right over that hill, lets go see the waterfall!”

“And after that it’s time for basket weaving class!” Clem says in a voice that only a child could love, “Isn’t that wonderful?” They lead the kids over the hill but a small group lags behind.

“I heard the place was cursed.” One of the younger ones say.

“Of course it is,” says the oldest of the group. Like you he’s been coming here every summer for years. “Everyone who goes in doesn’t come out the same, they’re... _different_.”

You roll your eyes, having heard all this before. Every year more and more rumors start about that damned cabin, and every year there’s always a kid that pretends to have gone in it and changed. Hell one year it was a pure epidemic, the councilors had to threaten everyone with no dinner to get them to stop. You of course don't believe in any of that magic bullshit, everyone knows magic is the fakest of fake things.

“If you don’t go in it before you leave camp you’re a pussy.” The oldest says, pushing the younger one towards the cabin.

“Hey,” you call out, walking up to the kids, “come on and go catch up with the group.”

“Why should we listen to you? You’re not a counselor.” The oldest brat says, bowing up to you like he can actually take you in a fight. You just laugh at him and lean in.

“Because, I’ll beat you up if you don’t. Now go.” You say coldly. The younger kids take off running over the hill but the older ones stay.

“I bet you haven’t even gone inside yet and how long have you been going here? Ten years? You’re a coward.” He has the nerve to look smug and his buddies chime in with laughter and insults of their own.

“No, I’m smarter than you. That cabin looks like it could give you a staph infection with one splinter, and I value my health. Besides, curses aren’t real and only idiots would believe otherwise.” You say.

Predictably, he just starts chanting ‘coward’ over and over again, his friends dancing around and laughing with him. When you raise your fist and step toward them they go running like the little brats they are. They’ve always been a pain in the ass, but you’re bigger so they won’t take it farther than insults, and well, they’re kids so their insults aren’t any more menacing than ‘booger eater’ or ‘fart head’ and the occasional ‘fucker’ uttered in a hushed voice.

You sigh and follow them up the hill but stop on the crest. You actually haven’t been inside the cabin, even though you visit it every year. This would be your last year at camp, it’s now or never. You hesitate a moment before walking back down the hill, not because of the brat’s taunts but to get away from the ever cheerful counselors and the routine. Not to mention if you have to take basket weaving one more time you'll weave yourself a flail and flip your shit.

You circle the cabin, studying it for one last time. The wood was falling apart and smelled strongly of rot. Just touching a window sill causes the whole board to creak and fall off, sending a swarm of bugs running. You back off several steps to avoid the nasty things. Disgusting, no wonder this place is so run down.

Did you really want to go inside it? The place sounds like it'll fall down at the merest touch, the boards groaning and creaking lightly with every slight breeze.

You sigh and step up to the door, inspecting the odd painting. Weird symbols, a circle, and crude animal drawings all painted in dark red, definitely satanic. You hesitate a moment before pushing the door. It sounds like it's screaming as it slowly swings open halfway before catching on a loose floorboard. A cloud of dust and dirt greets you as you walk in, causing you to go into a coughing fit. There's little pawmarks in the layer of dust crisscrossing all over the room, which is predictably empty. You cautiously walk in further, testing the floor as you go. It'd be just your luck to fall through and get stuck.

Looking around, you see now that what you assumed to be moss on the walls is actually old crumbling pieces of paper. You walk over to one and blow the dust off of it. Once your sneezing subsides you can see the paper has the same kind of symbols as the door does. There must be hundreds of these stickers, plastered all over every surface. It makes you nervous, though you can't say why.

So, now you're in the cabin. Why did people make such a big deal out of this? It's just a musty old run down building. Maybe the back rooms will prove to be more interesting. As you cross the middle of the main room, the floor creaks horribly and you make a mental note to go around the edge of the room as you leave.

The first room you come to is the kitchen area, if one can even call it that anymore. The cupboard doors are either missing or hanging on by a hope and prayer. You go over and idly swing one closed before you examine the remains of the sink. How cute, someone planted some flowers in it once upon a time and the little purple buds are taking over the counter. There isn’t anything else interesting so you move on to the other rooms.

Each one is in a similar state, rotting, falling apart, taken over by plants and animals or covered in camper graffiti. Such glorious phrases such as ‘beware’ and ‘you shall be cursed’ and other nonsense all written in what you assume to be sharpie and paint from the camp shed. The back half of the cabin is eerie, all gloomy lighting, rotting wood, random creaks and groans, it’d be the perfect place to set a horror story. You open the door to one of the back rooms and a family of possums immediately hiss at you. There is no way you’re going to get rabies so you slam that door as soon as you open it, and then practically jump out of your skin as something large makes a bang from somewhere in the house.

What the hell was that? No way that was a possum or raccoon, the noise had been too loud. With your heart pounding you make your way toward the front, trying to be as quiet as possible. Did one of those kids sneak back? Or was it something more dangerous like a bear or big cat? You curse yourself for leaving the front door open but there isn’t anything you can do now but cautiously peek around the corner into the kitchen.

Nothing. As far as you can tell no one but you has been in there for years. That means whatever it is is in the front room, between you and the door. Everything is silent as you pad over and work up the courage to look. Again, nothing. Then what the hell...

As you look around for the source of the noise you notice the cabinet door that you closed before wasn’t there anymore, it had fallen off. You kick the piece of wood and grumble to yourself as you head outside. This had been a waste of time and you’re ready to get back to camp but as you cross over the center of the main room, an ominous creak breaks the silence.

You try to jump back but it's too late, the middle of the floor gives out. You scream as you fall down into a hidden basement. The landing is rough and it's made worse by the splintered boards raining down on you. Miraculously they don't impale you, but you are sporting several painful gashes and one very pained ass. You slowly sit up with a groan and survey the damage, adjusting your thankfully intact glasses. Nothing feels broken, and you don't seem to be gushing blood so you'll probably live. That is if you don't end up with an infection.

You're so busy gripping and groaning to yourself that you don't feel it at first, a powerful, almost oppressive feeling of something watching you. When you finally get your mind off your hurts your head snaps up in alarm. You expect to see some kind of dirty psychotic hillbilly, or maybe a cougar, but all that's there is a table with a small box on it. The feeling doesn't go away and you stay tense for several minutes before laughing at yourself.

"I must have hit my damn head." You say as you haul yourself to your feet, wincing at all your little hurts. You walk over and inspect the table. Old, dusty, starting to rot, but just a standard table. The box is only a few inches big, probably small enough to fit in the palm of your hand which you prove when you pick it up. It's surprisingly heavy for it's size. There's four more of those stickers sealing it closed, one on each side, and for the longest moment you can't force yourself to break them. Then you scoff and shake your head, hesitating just another moment before you rip them open with your thumbnail.

Nothing happens. You almost feel cheated but of course nothing happened, magic isn't real. You pull the top off and nestled on a bed of black silk is a ring. It almost looks like a class ring, but it is obviously older in design. Despite it's apparent age though, it isn't tarnished. In fact it looked brand new, the silver shining brightly as you walk over to the hole in the ceiling where the light is pouring in. On the inside of the band is etched two words, _Sollux Captor_. The owner of the ring maybe? The stone set in it is odd, you've never seen anything like it before. One side is a brilliant ruby and the other is a glimmering sapphire, the two stones meeting in a jagged line straight down the middle melding in a way you didn't think was possible. Even though the middle looks jagged, a quick feel shows that it was smooth, not a crack to be found in the surface as if the stone had just formed that way. Both colors are more vibrant than you've ever seen in a gem before, and you've seen plenty of precious gems in your life. It ‘s absolutely beautiful, and somehow powerful.

As you're staring down at it, a drop of blood falls from your cheek and lands on the stone. You swear it glows for a split second but that had to be a trick of the light. You pick up the ring and wipe it off on your shirt, taking a moment to remove one of the rings you're already wearing before replacing it with the new one.

The ring flashes with a blinding light and you're thrown to the floor by some invisible force. You crack your head against the cement and spend a long moment curled up in pain, wondering what the hell just happened. After the nausea fades to a tolerable level you manage to crack open your eyes. Was it darker? Did you pass out or something because there’s next to no light now. Your eyes are full of tears though so maybe that's it. You slowly sit up and take off your glasses to wipe your eyes. When you replace them and look up to see what's blocking the light you freeze.

It's a monster. That's the only thing that comes to mind when you see the... creature, standing above you. Large leathery wings, big enough to fill most of the room and block out the light, are the first things to catch your attention. Whatever it is has horns, two sharp pairs of them, and long pointed ears. Then it opens it's eyes and stares right at you. One eye glows a vibrant red and the other a blue that together illuminate the rest of it's face.

You can't move, it feels like someone stole your breath and if you try to get it back this thing will rip you apart. The seconds stretch into an eternity, the only sound is the blood rushing through your ears. You're hallucinating, that's the only thing that makes sense. You hit your head and now you're seeing things. Monsters like that don't exist, magic and monsters and everything like that thing is fake. That doesn't stop your heart from going a mile a minute and every muscle tensing up ready to fight or run.

The thing takes a step towards you and without thinking you're already scuttling backwards until you hit the wall. It keeps coming closer, a smirk on it's face and you've never felt so trapped before. When it's right in front of you it pauses before moving suddenly and you instinctively fling your arms up in front of your face. You expect to feel sharp claws ripping into your flesh, but instead you hear a chuckle.

"Jumpy aren't you?"

You peek out from behind your arms at the creature. It spoke. This monster just spoke to you and now it looked like it expected an answer as it crouches in front of you. With its wings tucked against it's back the room is brighter, enough to dispel the creepy vibe from before. Now you can actually see the creature's features and you're surprised to see he, for it had to be male, looked like... a nerd. If not for the glowing eyes, grey skin, and sharp teeth poking out from behind his lips, he'd be the poster boy for a Dungeons and Dragons convention, he just had that kind of thin geeky face.

You blink at him a few times, trying to understand just what you're seeing. Frightening monster or weird geek cosplayer?

"I hit my head way too hard." You say, rubbing your eyes in hopes the next time you open them that thing will be gone.

Slender fingers probe the back of your head and you jerk away from them in alarm, whacking your already sore head on the wall. You grab your throbbing skull and curl in on yourself as the creature laughs.

"I was going to say your head is fine but now I'm not sure." He says, speaking with a lisp, further cementing the nerd connection.

You peek up at him through your tears. He looks amused, his eyes softer than they were before and his mouth in a crooked smile. If it wasn't for his inhuman appearance, you'd have actually relaxed, but he’s obviously something else, something that looked like it came from a nightmare.

"... w-what are you?" You finally work up the nerve to ask.

"Wow rude, not to mention cliche. I'm a demon and you're currently wearing my ring. I'd like it back." He says, pointing one slender claw-tipped finger at your hand.

You look down at the ring still on your finger. Is it just your imagination or did the stone look a little less vibrant than it did before?

"Oh, uh, sorry." You go to remove it but an odd feeling strikes you, like giving it back to him would be a very bad idea.

"What's the problem? Come on and give it here so we can go our separate ways." He says, holding his hand out and gesturing for you to give it to him.

"... what are you gonna do when I give it to you?" You ask. Your hand curls around the ring while you study his face.

"I'm going to put it on and then leave this shitty place. I've been down here way too long and I'm ready to go so give it here." He gestures for the ring again.

Something about this just isn't setting right with you. The weird painting on the door, all those stickers pasted everywhere, the fact that this room was hidden in the first place, it was all adding up to something out of a horror movie and you do not want to be the idiot that gets himself killed.

"Why don't you just leave now then?" You ask, sitting up more.

"Because," he says slowly as if he's talking to an infant, "that is my ring and I want it back. Now either give it to me or I take it from you." His eyes narrow as he's talking.

"W-wait! Just, what was it doin down here in the first place? Why didn't you get it before now?"

He hisses at you, "Give it here!"

Before you can even blink he lunges at your hand, aiming to pry the ring off by force. You squeak in fear and try to push him off but it's like pushing against a rock. He's shoving you into the wall as he gropes for your hand, bare chest keeping you trapped and giving off an unnatural amount of body heat. You squirm around towards the wall and try to shove him off with your free hand and feet but it's no use.

"Stop!" You cry out. Then, putting as much force and power into your voice as you can, you say it again, "STOP!"

He's gone so suddenly you're left reeling from the lack of heat. What just happened? Did you seriously hallucinate all that? You're scared to look, but you force yourself and there he is, perched on the table like some kind of gargoyle. Oh god his expression promises pain but... why did he stop in the first place? You spend a moment getting your breath back before scrambling to your feet, making damn sure to keep your eyes on him at all times. He doesn't move, just crouches there glaring at you.

A long minute passes with neither of you moving. What is he waiting for? You don't know what to do so you spend the tense moment getting a better look at him. His wings are half unfurled and you're surprised to see he actually has a second smaller set slightly below the main one. He also has two long smooth tails ending in stereotypical spades curled around his odd legs which look like something out of a furry convention. Thank god he's wearing pants, as tattered and faded as they are, and out of the frayed bottom come his weird feet. They look like a cross between gargoyle and bird feet, with thick but dexterous looking toes.

He hisses as you look him over and you jump in surprise. You expect him to lunge at you but still he just crouches there. Cautiously, you take a few steps along the wall and when he doesn't attack you deem it safe enough to look around the room for a way out. Unfortunately, the only way in or out of this room is through the ceiling. You're trapped in here with a demon.

You look back at him and take a deep breath, "W-" you clear your throat and try again, "Why did you stop?"

He growls, this deep and evil sounding thing that causes your hair to stand on end. "You ordered me to."

"... And you listened?" You ask him incredulously.

He hisses and jumps off the table, stalking toward you on all fours before standing. You hold your ground, only trembling slightly.

"You have my ring!" He yells at you.

His response makes so little sense that you find yourself laughing, "What the fuck does that have to do with anythin?!"

He jabs you in the chest, thankfully minding his claw, "I'm bound to that ring and while you're wearing it I'm bound to you!"

You press back against the wall to get as far away from him as possible, though you don't think he's going to hurt you now.

"Okay okay! Just, back off and explain this to me," you shove him away, hoping you're right and he won't claw you up for your trouble. To your immense relief he does back off.

You take a deep breath and try to gather your thoughts, looking down at the ring that started this whole mess. "So, you're sayin you’re… bound? To this ring?"

He rolls his eyes, which looks rather odd since both his eyes are solid colors but you know he just rolled them at you. "Yes genius, I just said that less than a minute ago."

You give him a dirty look, "How can you be bound to a ring?" What the hell does that even mean? Is it like… a tether? A Pokeball? Where he lives in it and comes out when you summon him?

He heaves a sigh, “Souls are made of energy and energy can be contained. That stone is a physical manifestation of my soul and since it’s trapped in a ring, I’m trapped with whoever is wearing it, i.e. you.”

"Demons don't have souls... do they?" Aren't they created when someone loses their soul? Or they're damned souls condemned to burn? You'll be the first to admit you didn't pay much attention when religious theory was taught.

"Oh please," he crosses his arms with a huff, "whatever stupid god fearing thoughts are running through your head, drop them. I'm a being of nature and spirit, not some bullshit religious icon. Demon is just what humans call us."

"Us?" Oh god don't let there be more of these creatures around.

His evil, toothy grin confirms your worst suspicions, "You don't think I'm the only demon do you? Humans can't see us unless we want them to, or unless they're bound to a demon. So congrats! Unless you give me my ring you'll be seeing demons everywhere and some really don't like being noticed if you catch my drift."

You catch it alright, and you really wish you hadn't. "So we're... bound together. Explain that."

"What do you think it means? Our souls are connected now thanks to you. One of us gets hurt and the other gets to feel it. We get to share emotions and needs and all the _bullshit_ that comes with it." He practically snarls, but then he relaxes and looks imploringly at you, "Seriously, just give me the ring, I'll break the bond, and you can forget this ever happened."

The offer is tempting, extremely so, but you can't shake the feeling that it would be a bad idea. "... What happens to me if you break the bond?"

"Nothing, you're not hurt, you're not altered in any way. There's really no damn good reason for you not to just give it up."

You think on it for a minute, absentmindedly rubbing the smooth stone. It isn't until you notice him staring at your fingers that you stop, remembering that's supposed to be his soul or something. "Alright, just one more question. Why were you trapped in this ring in the first place?"

His eyes go to your face and narrow as he tenses. A long moment stretches out without him answering. "... That's a rude question and it's none of your business."

Just as you suspected, he was trapped because he deserved to be. Whatever he did, someone wanted to make damn sure he never did again. Judging by all the precautions taken, it couldn't have been good. "You deserved it didn't you?"

He hisses at you but doesn't answer which is as much a confession as anything. A thought crosses your mind and you grin at him smugly, "I can order you to tell me."

The next thing you know you're being slammed into the wall with an enraged demon in your face. "You do and I'll make you wish you hadn't," he says quietly.

You nod quickly, heart in your throat and knees weak. If he hurts you he hurts himself, he said so, but now you're not sure if he wouldn't take that risk anyway. He keeps you pinned for another moment, not breaking eye contact. His eyes are so intense you feel like he can burn you alive just by staring. Finally, he backs off and lets you slide to the floor when your legs give out.

He crouches down to your level, "If you won't let me go, at least feed me."

"W- what do you eat?" You don't really want to know the answer. What if he wanted your fingers? Or part of your soul? Or oh god, what if he wanted your virginity?

"Energy, creativity, emotions, blood, sex,” he rattles off, “it depends on what I'm hungry for. For now I'll settle on your name and some blood."

"You're gonna eat my name?" You say as your eyebrows shoot up.

"... Yes. I'm going to eat your name." He says flatly, "Of fucking course I'm not going to eat your name, that's not a thing that can even happen you moron."

You bristle, "Well excuse me! I don't know how demons work."

"That's obvious," he says, "Just tell me your name, your full name, and let me eat. I don't know if you can understand this with your feeble little human mind, but being stuck in a ring for who knows how long works up quite an appetite."

You frown, "Why do you need to know my full name?" Isn't that one of the ways someone took control over another person? Is he trying to trick you?

"I don't need to, but fair is fair right? You know mine and it's not like I can do anything with yours." He says, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor. You get the feeling he's not lying to you, and anyway can't you order him to stop if he tries to hurt you? You consider it, realizing his name must have been the words carved in the band of the ring. After another moment of studying him, you decide.

"Eridan Ampora," You say, and you're struck with such a powerful hunger it leaves you light headed. You're aware that you're not actually hungry, but at the same time you still feel like you're starving. "I- what?" You ask, shaking your head to dispel the weird feeling. Instead of clearing your head, you just feel detached amusement.

"I told you we'd share emotions and needs, but only if we both know each other's full names. Now you know how damn hungry I am so give me your arm." He grabs your arm and tugs it up to his mouth.

It takes you a moment to process what he's doing but when you do you jerk your arm back to your chest, "Hey no bitin! Wait a minute, you tricked me!" You glare at him, feeling his impatience as a weird aside to your own feelings.

"No shit, you're keeping me captive so you should expect a trick or two. Now give me your arm you big baby, I'm not going to bite you." He holds out his hand, impatience and hunger radiating off of him. If you deny him for much longer, you don't doubt that he'll take what he wants anyway.

You slowly extend your arm and tense up for pain when he grabs you tight, but instead of biting, he leans in and seals his lips around one of the gashes you got from falling through the ceiling. Oh, you'd forgotten about those. His tongue rubs at the wound as he sucks to get the blood flowing. It kind of hurts, but it's better than him biting you that’s for sure. This whole thing is uncomfortably intimate though, his lips at your skin, feeling his pleasure as he drinks, you're starting to wish you'd let him go. Why didn't you? Oh yeah, because he’s probably a danger to the world.

Time seems to lose meaning as you watch him lap at your arm. You realize you're staring almost the exact moment his eyes slide open to look at you. That intense red and blue stare causes you to blush, which just gets worse when you can feel his amusement. You tug your arm out of his grasp despite the fact he's still hungry. "That's enough I think."

"You can always feed me with something else." He wiggles his eyebrows in an attempt at being alluring but it just looks ridiculous. You still end up getting flustered over the suggestion.

"Not no but hell no." You push yourself to your feet and walk away from him to the center of the room, looking up at the ceiling. How are you going to get out of here? There’s no way you can climb out. While you're thinking, Sollux embraces you from behind, his arms wrapping around you and his chin resting on your shoulder. You jump at the sudden contact.

"I'm still hungry you know." He says, his breath tickling your ear and his hands casually rubbing your chest.

"Let me go you beast." Ignoring his obvious come on, you elbow him and try to push off but his grip is like steel. He growls at you and you freeze only to cry out the next moment as he bites your shoulder. The bite isn't hard, more like a strong nip really, but it’s on one of your gashes that was already lightly throbbing so it sends a lance of pain down your spine. You reach over and grab his shaggy black hair but you don't try to tug him off, too afraid of hurting yourself.

The little shit hums in satisfaction as he drinks your blood, body pressed against you to keep you from struggling. He's hot, temperature wise that is. Are all demons this hot? It’s hard to think straight with the heat and his tongue dancing across your skin. You really hope he can't read your mind, but you can't read his so, maybe you're safe?

Eventually his hunger diminishes and he licks your wound clean but doesn't pull away. You're about to just order him to but the words die in your throat as you surge upward without warning. You're outside before you can blink and the trees get smaller and smaller as he takes you high into the air.

The wind tugs at your clothes and howls in your ears, snatching away most of your scream. You scramble to get a hold on his arms as your vision goes weird around the edges from fear. Finally he stops rising and levels out, hovering in place far above the valley. The wind is cold up here, biting into your bare legs and freezing your lungs as you gulp for air. You can see for miles and miles, everything crystal clear and spread out like a map. It’s an absolute miracle that your glasses managed to stay on through the wild ride, but you kind of wish they’d fallen off. The view only makes this more terrifying honestly.

“So hey, why don’t you give me my ring back?” Sollux says calmly from behind you, his arms the only thing keeping you from certain death.

“U-uh, w-wait a minute.” This had to be a bluff, he can’t kill you right? He already would have if he could, he’s just trying to trick you again. “Are you gonna take it and go off to destroy things?”

“Whether I do or don’t isn’t any of your business,” he says, “but if you don’t give me the ring you’ll have a long way down to consider your choice.” You honestly can’t tell if he’s bluffing now, even with access to his emotions. He’s perfectly calm and you can’t get a read on him. Still... he wouldn’t, would he?

“I’m not gonna give it to you if you’re just gon-” you don’t get to finish that because he drops you. The world and sky blur as you’re thrown into a free fall, the ground coming up fast. There’s a high pitched noise coming from somewhere and it isn’t until Sollux catches you by the ankle and stops your fall do you realize it’s you. You stop screaming and suck in air by the lungfull, eyes shut tight and whole body trembling as you dangle from his grasp. Great, you’ve lost your glasses, though you can’t really bring yourself to care much at the moment.

“If you don’t want me to drop you again, you’d better give me that ring.” Sollux says from above you, voice calm as his emotions. You don’t even have to consider it, you’re not dying just to save people from a hypothetical fate. You pull the ring off and hold it out for Sollux to grab. There’s a burst of triumph followed by confusion.

The grip on your ankle disappears and you scream as your eyes fly open but... you’re not falling. You’re just kind of floating there, watching as a blurry Sollux puts on the ring over and over again. He glares down at you, you think, “Did you bleed on this?”

“Uh...” You answer eloquently. It’s not your fault you can’t think straight right now. You do vaguely remember wiping the ring off though. “Yes?”

He hisses and you can clearly feel his anger and frustration. “You idiot! Now we really are stuck together! Bring me to the nearest blind witch.”

The world slowly spins as you somehow turn right side up in midair. From out of nowhere your glasses alight themselves on your face, causing you to start in alarm, “What the- You want me to do what now?” You blink and adjust your glasses, wondering where the hell they came from.

“Bring me to a blind witch! How hard is that to understand?” He glares at you and you realize he hasn’t been flapping his wings, they’re just spread open and the both of you are floating with no clear sign of _how_.

“I’m pretty sure witches don’t exist.” Then again, you’re currently floating in the air, your glasses just set themselves on your face, and you’re talking to a demon who you can feel becoming more annoyed.

He just stares at you for a long moment. “... Are you actually stupid or just faking? Don’t answer that, I already know, but are you seriously telling me there’s no witches around?”

“None that I know of, other than preteens fakin it.” You say with a shrug.

He stares at you for another moment, disbelief and confusion swirling off of him. “... What year is it?”

“Uh, twenty fourteen.” You say.

His eyes widen comically and he runs a hand through his hair, which is awkward looking since you know, horns. “Wow, almost five hundred years.” He looks around at the world stretched below you both for the first time, studying the landscape.

Is he serious? He’s been trapped in a ring for that long? How is he even that old? He looked to be in his early twenties.

There’s a faint roar as an airplane takes off at a nearby airport and he just stares at it for a long moment before nodding. “... I guess we’re stuck together. Come on, we need to talk.” He floats over and grabs you around the waist before gravity seems to kick back in and he’s using his wings again. The ride back to the ground is a lot nicer now that you know he’s not going to kill you. As he lands in a little clearing and you take a few steps away from him you realize you could have just ordered him to not drop you.

“Goddammit! Don’t do anythin like that again.” You say with a glare. He merely grins and shrugs.

“It was worth a try, though if you’d have told me from the beginning you bled on my stone I wouldn’t have tried to get it back.”

“How the hell was I supposed to know that? And why does bleedin on it have anythin to do with us bein stuck together?” You ask.

“It’s complicated, you wouldn’t understand it but I’ll try to condense it into small words,” the absolute asshole says, still grinning like this is a joke, “Wearing the ring ties me to you but if you take it off it breaks that tie. Bleeding on it creates a much stronger bond that only someone who knows how can break, which is usually a blind witch. Don’t ask me why they’re blind, I never figured that out either.”

“Okay fine, we’re stuck together. How fuckin perfect.” You run your fingers through your hair, trying to fix the mess that the wind made of it. What the fuck are you supposed to do with a demon? You can’t exactly take him back to camp, though you’d love to see the councilor’s faces. “Can’t you just, take the ring and leave? So long as I order you not to kill nobody or destroy things.”

Sollux’s face turns sour, “Even if I could, I wouldn’t let you order me around like that and if you try I’ll make your life a living hell.”

“Couldn’t I just order you not to do that too?” You ask honestly, wondering the limits of what you can get away with.

He hisses and stalks toward you and you take a step back, “Go ahead and try.” He says quietly, eyes narrowed and yeah, you can tell you’ve pushed a little too much. His anger burns at the back of your mind, a white hot reminder that this is a creature you didn’t understand. You hold your hands up and step back again.

“Okay okay, I won’t order you around unless you start attackin me or anyone else. I think that’s pretty fair right?” So long as he’s with you, you won’t let him run rampant. You guess it’s like having a really big, really dangerous dog. Or a fully evolved Pokemon.

He keeps glaring at you for another moment before nodding, “Fine, but if you start ordering me to do stupid shit you’d better watch your back.” He jabs a claw at you and you know he means it.

“Got it, no stupid shit unless you start it.” You say, waving your hands to hopefully remind him you’re harmless. Physically anyway.

“Good, now we get to talk about feeding me. I can’t just drink your blood everyday, you’d die.” He says with a shrug. Its nice knowing he cares so much, to him you’re just food. You guess you now know what a cow feels like.

“What did you have in mind?” You ask warily. You don’t like where this is going, but you can’t put it off can you?

“You’re either going to have to let me eat your emotions or have sex regularly.” He says and how did you know those were going to be your only options?

“What exactly do you mean by eat my emotions? I’m not gonna end up bein catatonic or depressed am I?”

“Actually, yeah. Just while I’m eating though, it’s not permanent.”

“How long do you gotta eat for?” You ask. Taking a few minutes each day to zone out didn’t sound like such a bad idea actually. Not like you have a ton of stuff to do anyway. The most pressing problem you have back home is homework and you can basically do that in your sleep.

“Depends. If that’s the only thing I get to eat it’ll probably take three or four hours. A day.” He says. There’s reluctance tugging at your mind but you can’t tell if it’s his or yours.

“Hours?!” you squawk, “What do you expect me to do durin that time? Wait, can I sleep through it?” Maybe this wouldn’t be bad after all.

“Nope, you have to do something that makes you feel emotions normally, otherwise there’s nothing for me to eat.” He says, tone screaming ‘duh’. Damn, as bad as you thought it would be.

“That ain’t gonna work, and I’m not sleepin with you either. Can’t you feed off a someone else?”

He raises an eyebrow, “You want me to steal people’s emotions without asking or them knowing?”

You grimace, “Well yeah it sounds bad if you put it like that…”

“No shit, and I can’t do it anyway.” He crosses his arms and gives you a stare, “Look, you don’t have to sleep with me to feed me, you can have sex with anyone and I’ll get the energy off of it. And no, before you ask, it won’t decrease your pleasure at all and you won’t even know I’m eating.”

“W-well, why can’t you sleep with people? Why do I gotta be a part in this equation?” You ask, blush starting to crawl across your cheeks. It’s not like you don’t know about sex or have a sex drive, you’re just not really comfortable talking about it with someone you just met and kind of don’t like.

“For the same reason I can’t feed off of other people, now that we’re bound it has to come from you.” He shrugs again, not much caring that he’s ruining your life. Well, you had always hated your quiet life, looks like you’re getting your wish for some excitement. It’s not quite what you had in mind though.

“Okay, well that fuckin figures.” You rub your face and think, how could you feed him without embarrassing yourself? “Seriously though, is there nothing else than bein catatonic or sex?”

“You do realize that the sex thing includes masturbation right?” He points out.

“Oh,” you say intelligently. You had not, in fact, realized that. “Uh, do you have to be…” You grimace and wave your hand in a loose circle, “around, for that?”

“No, you can do it whenever and it’ll work fine. Five times a day should work if I don’t get fed anything else.”

“Five times? Am I gonna have any time to myself anymore?” It sure didn’t look like it. You had to care for your pet demon now who apparently couldn’t fend for himself.

“Should have thought about that before binding yourself to a demon. But now that that’s all out of the way, I’m off. I’ll come back when I get hungry.” He crouches a bit, wings spreading with a snap and before you can even open your mouth to tell him to wait he’s gone in a flurry of dirt and leaves. You look up in time to see him stop in midair and look around before taking off in a random direction.

For lack of anything better to do, you scream at his retreating form. It seems to you that you’re getting the raw end of this deal. Sure you can order him to do whatever you want, but all he has to do is attack you and you’ll have little choice but to stop. Unless you order him to stay perfectly still, but that just doesn’t sit right with you. Not that you won’t do it if pushed that far, but you should probably give him a chance before taking such extreme measures. That still leaves you with feeding him and assuming responsibility for his actions. This is why you never got a dog, they’re too much of a pain in the ass to deal with.

You blow a blast of air out your nose and look around, just now realizing that you have no idea where you are. Isn’t that perfect? You’re lost, hurt, and have had enough adrenaline pumped through you today to last a lifetime. Cursing your new pet under your breath, you start in a random direction, hoping you’ll find something familiar soon. The one thing you know for certain about all this though, camp sure has got a lot more interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will hopefully be a long one. Any and all critiques, hints, advice, and corrections are more than welcome. I want to get better at writing so please, point out any mistakes you find!
> 
> Inspired by the word 'sealstuck' in [toastyhat's](http://toastyhat.tumblr.com/) writing AU challenge event.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You honestly should have expected having a pet demon would be a pain in your ass, but you could have never guessed just how absolutely aggravating he could be. Still, your live has never been so exciting.

Something pokes you in the shoulder and you pull the covers over your head in hopes it’ll go away. It’s probably one of the kids trying to prank you and you are not in the mood for it. You’re sore all over, though you don’t quite remember why, and you just want to sleep. God help anyone who wakes you.

It’s quiet and you’re starting to drift off to sleep when you’re poked again, only this time it’s followed by a shake. You grit your teeth and curl up tighter. Something shifts on your bed and you realize that whoever is trying to wake you is actually kneeling over you, which is never a good sign much less when you share a cabin full of boys. You peek out from under your covers and scream, kicking out and scrambling up against your headboard.

Sollux snorts from where he’s crouching, red and blue eyes illuminating the dark cabin. Right, demon, you’re bound to him. How the hell did you manage to forget that? You hear several of the other kids moving around and asking what’s happening before a light goes on.

“What the hell Eridan?” One of them asks, squinting up at you with bleary eyes. You stare like a deer caught in the headlights. How do you explain this gargoyle sitting on your bed? But… no one is even looking at him; they're all looking at you.

“They can’t see me genius.” Sollux says. Right, you think you remember him saying something like that yesterday between the terror of him attacking you and him dropping you from a mile above the ground. It was all a blur of fear and confusion really.

You clear your throat and wave all the staring faces off, “Sorry, uh, nightmare.” Against all odds they believe you. The light goes off and everyone settles back in, grumbling and calling you less than savory names. You guess word of you going into the cabin hasn’t spread yet, otherwise they would have bombarded you with questions and accusations. You’re surprised, the councilors had freaked when you told them what had happened. The assholes didn’t even care that you literally fell through a floor, they just knew you were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be and they decided you deserved punishment on top of the fact the nurse had to dig splinters out of you. They forced you to clean the bathrooms top to bottom, which explained why you were so sore.

Sollux tugs on your sleeve, snapping you out of your thoughts, “Come on, I need to ask you something.” He jumps down from your bed and pads silently to the bathroom.

You groan and rub your face, wondering if you can’t just go back to sleep. But no, you can feel his impatience and you know if you don’t do what he wants he’ll just come back and wake you up again. You put on your glasses and slide out of bed, the soft sound masked by the singing of frogs and bugs from outside. No one stirs as you walk to the bathroom, thankfully having the bunk closest to the back of the cabin.

As you close the door you’re blinded by the light going on. “Ah, Jesus, some warnin next time.” You say quietly as you shield your eyes from the sudden onslaught. Hopefully no one will hear you talking to yourself in the bathroom at too fucking early o’clock.

“What is this?” He asks, pointing at one of the light bulbs above the sink.

“Uh, light?” There’s a spike of annoyance and you figure that’s not the answer he’s looking for. “It’s called a light bulb.” You clarify.

“How does it work?” He moves and flicks the switch, plunging the room into darkness before the light flashes back on. Then off, then on again. The moron is flicking the switch back and forth watching the bulb, brow drawn.

You honestly can’t answer for a moment, too struck with the ridiculousness of it all. It’s like you woke up in one of those slice of life comedies where the main character has to raise an alien that doesn’t know a thing about modern technology.

“Electricity.” He doesn’t know that word, you can tell from how he looks at you. Not to mention the confusion that doesn’t belong to you leaking into your mind, “It’s like… contained lightnin?”

“Oh, what spell do you use to contain it? Is magic widespread now?” He’s staring at you with the utmost attention, his ears perked up and forward.

“Uh no, magic isn’t real.” You say before you can help yourself. Predictably, he gives you an unimpressed look. You shake your head and wave it off, “Okay fine, humans don’t do magic though. Not any that I know of. We make electricity with science, usin turbines and windmills and stuff.”

He still doesn’t know what you’re talking about but he’s gone to tapping the bulb with a claw, obviously not caring to understand right now. “How do I get to the energy?” He says as little clinks fill the room.

You look around and point to a socket on the wall, “Through there.” Before you can stop him or even utter a warning, he’s shoving his claws into the outlet. The lights surge and the electricity cuts out with a quiet pop as he jerks back from the socket and hits the ground.

“Ehehehe, wow.” He says dazedly. The lights flicker a few times before they come back on, allowing you to get a better look at him. His hair is on end and his eyes are shining brighter than before, the smell of ozone curling off of him. He’s not hurt, not that you can tell anyway, in fact he seemed to have liked it.

You analyze the emotions at the back of your mind as you study him. He has a dopey grin on his face and a very satisfied feeling emanating off of him. “… did you just… eat that?”

The air crackles with static electricity as he sits up and stretches, “Oh yeah, and it was delicious.”

Hope blooms in your chest as you see a way out of your mess, “So, does that mean I don’t have to feed you anymore?”

He pauses, looking up at you, “I guess so, but you’re not getting rid of me.” He stands up and grabs you, shocking your arm in the process, “Come on, you have to explain some things.” He drags you out of the bathroom and you barely remember to keep your voice down in time.

“No! Let me go back to sleep you bastard.” You dig in your heels but only get a splinter for your trouble as he tugs you along effortlessly. Soon enough you’re outside in the chilly air, shivering as your bare feet touch the freezing stones. The sun hasn’t even risen yet! This asshole woke you up at the asscrack of dawn for a Q and A session, could he not have waited?!

“Stop dammit,” you tell him, but he keeps going. How did you do it the first time? It all happened so fast you don’t remember what you did to get him to obey you. You try again, this time a lot more forcefully, “ _Stop_.”

He does, turning around to glare at you, “Don’t order me around.”

“Then at least fuckin listen to me. It’s way too early for this and I’m tired. Your stupid curiosity can wait until mornin.” You turn to leave but he still has a hold of your arm and he’s not letting go.

“You’ll be busy in the morning, just do it now so I have something to do while you’re off playing camper.” He doesn’t wait for a response, just resumes tugging you along.

“Did I not just order you to stop?” You say as you glare at his back and struggle to keep up.

“Yeah, and I stopped; now I’m going.” The smugness flooding your mind makes you want to gag. Instead, you opt to groan.

“You work on genie rules, just fuckin great.” If he can just pick and choose your meaning, you’ll have to be a lot more careful with how you phrase your orders in the future. Give him just a little opening and you don’t doubt he’ll take it.

Thoughts of how to be more specific in your orders take up most of your concentration so it’s no surprise that you run into him when he stops. “What is that?” He asks, pointing at one of the vending machines outside the office cabin.

“It’s a machine that gives you food in exchange for money.” You say as you rub your nose where his wing hit you. “Did you really just drag me out of bed to look at a vending machine?”

“How does it work?” Ignoring you, yet again, he goes and peers into one. The fluorescent light makes his grey skin look even more pallid than it usually does. But hey look at that, he let you go and it’s time for you to head back to bed.

“I don’t know and I don’t care, goodnight.” You manage to take a few steps before he lands in front of you and spins you back around.

“Wait, I’m not done.” He shoves you toward the door, which opens on its own, letting you both into the office.

“How did you do that?” You ask. The same kind of thing happened while you were in the air and with your glasses.

Instead of answering like a normal person, he drags you to a desk and starts picking stuff up at random, demanding to know what it is. Staplers, highlighters, speakers, the phone, a fan, any and everything that he can get his hands on. You wearily indulge him and explain what each one does, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

Then he goes to the TV and turns it on, just like you knew he would eventually. Could there be a scenario like this where the alien doesn’t ask about the TV? You think not.

Before he can even open his mouth you go ahead and explain, “That’s a television, no the people in it are not real, no you can’t talk to them, no they can’t hear you.” You rattle off dully, “People act out the scenes and it’s recorded onto special film which is used to replay it whenever anyone wants, and those replays are sent through the air into that box. No, it’s not magic either.”

“Seems like it’d be easier if it was magic.” He says, staring intently at the TV and playing with the buttons. While he’s distracted, you start backing up toward the door slowly.

“So what’s that?” He asks when he finally drags his attention from the TV. This time he’s pointing to the sleek computer on one of the desks.

“No. I’m not explainin that tonight, it’d take hours and I don’t even know how it all works.” You back up the last few steps to the door, shivering as the wind sends a blast of chilly air into the cabin.

He glares at you, “Just give me the basics.”

“Fine, it’s called a computer, it computes things. Goodnight.” You turn and huddle in on yourself as you trudge back toward your cabin, expecting to feel him grab you at any second. Thankfully he doesn’t and by time you step into the blissfully warm room the sun has already rose into the sky. You waste no time crawling into your oh so comfortable bed, pulling the covers over you and curling into a little ball. Right as you close your eyes, the morning trumpet goes off.

You are going to kill him. You’ll rip his wings off and beat him with them you swear to god. The cabin fills with the sounds of people getting up and getting dressed, not a lot of talking so early in the morning. There is no way you’re getting out of bed again, you don’t even care if you miss breakfast you’re fucking _tired_.

“Eridan, come on dude time to get up.” Says one of the more well meaning kids, shaking your bed a bit. If you ignore him he’ll go away, but the trumpets sound again and you know you’re not getting anymore sleep.

You groan mightily as you pull yourself out of bed and go through your morning routine. There’s no doubt in your mind that you look like a zombie, and normally that would bother you but right now you don’t give two flying shits. No one talks to you, which you guess is a perk to the freshly cut up and sleep deprived look.

After morning announcements and breakfast, they gather everyone out in the field by the cabins. The grass here is thin thanks to the countless feet always running across it, the dirt showing in multiple places. Morning birds sing their songs as the councilors announce it’s time to play some football.

You hate football, both versions of it. At least you’re vaguely good at soccer, but American football is too brutish for your tastes. Luckily, you can convince the councilors to let you help referee since you kind of have an unfair advantage over the other kids even with your lack of skills.

While you watch the brats run to and fro, you can’t help but wish for the millionth time this stupid camp allowed electronics. You’d much rather be catching up with the news or surfing the internet on your phone than refereeing a game no one cares about. At least today you have something to distract you, the small feelings at the back of your mind. You noticed them yesterday while you cleaned the toilets but you’d ignored them, today though you pay closer attention.

Wherever Sollux is, he’s confused about something, which isn’t all that surprising. You’re not looking forward to teaching him about all the new stuff the world has invented while he was stuck in that ring but you have the feeling he won’t give you much of a choice. Maybe you can sit his ass down and show him Google, though that’ll have to wait until after camp.

What is he even doing? You can’t see him anywhere but admittedly your view is limited out on the field. Even though you can sense some of his emotions, you can’t sense where he is. It doesn’t matter much one way or another, if he stayed well away from you for the rest of your life you’d be happy. Still, if he tries to attack someone or destroy something and you don’t stop him…

You mull it over for a moment, barely paying attention to the game in front of you. If you sneak off, they’ll sure as hell catch you and make you clean something else. Maybe you can order him to come here. Did it work if he couldn’t hear you? There’s only one way to find out you guess.

“Come here.” You say under your breath, thinking specifically about him and putting as much force into the words as possible. That’s how it works in the books right? You have to focus on the person’s ‘aura’ or some other mystical bullshit. A minute crawls by but you still can't see him anywhere. Looks like orders only work when he can hear them, though… his emotions took a turn to annoyed. Coincidence?

You can’t really think about it right now, the councilors are calling you over to organize the next activity. It’s hard focusing on what they’re saying while the aggravation at the back of your mind is growing but you can at least go through the motions of setting out yoga mats and getting the kids to settle down. You snap at them more than usual thanks to Sollux’s annoyance bouncing around your head. Great, his emotions can affect your own, that’s just what you need.

There’s no way you can get out of doing this so you grab a mat at the back of the group and follow along. You hate this camp, even when you were a kid you hated how the councilors treated you and all the stupid activities they’d make you do. If there’s a way of getting out of coming you haven’t found it yet, your parent’s check your credit cards and call the camp to make sure you actually make the trip.

While you’re leaned over in a pose, something heavy lands on your shoulders, forcing you straight to the ground. You land with a grunt and the weight settles on top of you, claws pricking at your shoulders.

“What do you want?” Sollux says with a growl underlying his words. Looks like he got your order, he just took his sweet time obeying it.

“Eridan? Are you okay?” Crystal asks, coming over to check on you.

"I'm fine," you manage to say, struggling under Sollux's weight. "Get off me," you order under your breath. By now most of the kids were looking your way and you can feel your face growing hot. Sollux still isn't moving so you add an angry, " _Now_ " through grit teeth.

Finally, he steps off and you can actually stand up and dust yourself off, fixing your glasses back to their correct position. Crystal steps closer, looking worried, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Er, actually, I think I might've pulled somethin, can I go and get it checked out?" You say, seeing an opportunity to skip out on their stupid classes and get the chance to talk to Sollux without looking like a lunatic.

"Can you try to keep going?" She asks in her sickly sweet concern voice.

"Better not, don’t want to make it worse. If it's not bad I'll come right back." You say, already backing away and faking a limp. You know you don't really convince anyone, but you don't care, not with Sollux walking beside you radiating anger and impatience.

“What do you want?” He asks again, no less hostile this time. You don’t answer until you’re in the shade between two cabins, out of sight of everyone. If he can ignore you then by god you can ignore him.

“I wanted to know what you were doin and make sure you weren’t destroyin somethin.” You say once you make sure no one is around to hear you.

He stares at you for a long moment before his eyes narrow, “I told you, do _not_  order me around. Especially for something as stupid as that.”

“It’s not stupid, your surly ass is my responsibility and I won’t let you go off and wreak havoc.” His anger is bouncing around your head alongside yours, amplifying each other and riling you up more.

You’re forced to lean back when he bares his teeth and gets right in your face, “If I wanted to wreak havoc not even you could stop me.”

He’s terrifying, but you’re too pissed to let him intimidate you. You hold your ground and glare up at him. “Wanna bet? I can order you to do whatever I wan-” Without warning your mouth slams shut and no matter how hard you try you can’t get it open again.

Sollux laughs and smirks, eyes narrowed and glowing like fire, “You can’t give orders if you can’t talk.” He advances on you again and this time you do back off, not stopping until your back hits a cabin wall. “This is the last time I’ll warn you,” he says quietly, “ _don’t_  order me around without a damn good reason. I’m not going to destroy anything that doesn’t deserve it so you can rest easy but I swear if you don’t stop pushing I’ll level this whole camp just to spite you. Understood?”

It’s hard to argue with him while he’s looking at you like that, like something that crawled out of the pits of hell and planned to drag you back with him. You nod, still unable to open your mouth to answer.

“Good, now leave me alone.” With a spark from his eyes, the weird pressure keeping your mouth closed disappears. You rub your jaw as he starts walking off.

“Wait, how did you do that?” You ask, not really expecting him to answer but he turns and looks at you.

“I can move things with my mind.” He says.

“So like, telekinesis? What other powers do you have? Can you read minds?” You ask, both fishing for information and genuinely curious.

He snorts and ruffles his wings as he crosses his arms, “No, you’d know if I could. But I _can_  shoot blasts of energy from my eyes and blow things up with my thoughts.”

“Jesus.” That threat about leveling the camp wasn’t an idle one. Was that what he did to get locked away? Blow things up until someone managed to capture him? “Can you do anythin that’s less destructive?”

"Duh, only an idiot would think I couldn’t.”

“Fuck off and just tell me what else you can do.” You grit your teeth but your mind fills with superpowers and magic spells, all the different abilities that he could have.

“I can do this.” He says with a smirk. There’s a weird distortion in the air around him and the next thing you know you’re looking at the biggest snake you’ve ever seen.

“Whoa!” You cry as you jump back. Its body is jet black and big enough that its head is level with your chest. It’s Sollux, you realize belatedly as the thing starts making this raspy hissing noise. It’s a laugh, this giant snake is laughing at you.

“That never gets old,” he says. It’s hard to understand him like this, hell he already had a lisp before but now he’s got a hissing sound on top of it. It honestly reminds you of parseltounge.

“Asshole,” you say as you glare at him. You have to admit though, that was a neat trick. “What else can you turn into?”

Another shimmer in the air is all the warning you get before a dragon is standing in front of you. His face is less than a foot away from your own and his breath is hot as he blows it out through his nose. You back up to get a better look at him, awestruck. He’s huge, shoulder as tall as you are and his head the size of your torso. He can eat you in one bite if he wanted to, and his teeth were more than sharp for the task. Again he’s black, but in this form he has thin red and blue lightning-like patterns along his body. He spreads his four wings as far as the space between cabins will allow and you can’t even see his back half that well, there's too much of him in the way.

“I’ll admit, that’s awesome.” You say, appreciating how the light plays off his smooth pebble-like scales and the raw strength apparent every time his chest rises and the muscles ripple.

“I know, and no you can’t have a ride.” The air shimmers and he’s back to his normal self. He spreads his wings, still not able to get them open the whole way between the cabins, and flaps them a few times before refolding them against his back.

“Wasn’t gonna ask.” You really wanted to ask. “So telekinesis and shape shifting, are those normal things for demons?”

“Mostly, the shape shifting thing is pretty common to all demons but what they turn into depends on the person.” He explains.

“Huh. So, what exactly is stoppin you from turnin into a dragon and flyin away? It’s obvious you don’t wanna be here.” Even as you say that you realize that the earlier tension is all but gone. What happened? Was it really just the fact you two were fueling each other’s anger? Like some kind of perverse echo chamber. You’ll have to be more careful of that in the future, it’d be too easy for his emotions to overwhelm you.

“Thanks to our bond I can’t be more than a couple of miles away from you. Trust me, I’d already be gone if I could.” He says, scowling down at the ground.

“Why do you have to be around me? I thought that ring was your soul.” He’s still wearing it, the stone sitting dully in the bright silver.

He looks down at it and spins it on his finger as he says, “Yeah, but it’s your soul I’m tied to, this ring is just a liability now.” After a moment of thought, he takes it off and hands it to you. “You wear it, if I do it just broadcasts the fact I’m a bound demon.”

You hesitate a moment before taking the ring, wondering why he’d trust you with his soul. “Why would that be a bad thing?”

“I can be bound to more than one person, so if anyone else puts that ring on I’m fucked twice over. It’ll blend in with the rest of your rings and humans aren’t much of a target anyway.” He says, watching as you put it on.

“Whoa wait, are you sayin there’s a possibility a me bein a target thanks to you?” You’re already a target thanks to your parents, you don’t need _more_  people trying to hurt you.

He just shrugs as if it’s not a big deal, “Maybe, I don’t know how things have changed. Used to be though people who craved power would seek out the strongest demons and seal them, or if they were already sealed they’d take them from whoever they were bound to.”

“And, how strong of a demon would you say you are?” Maybe you wouldn’t have to worry about it after all, but you can already guess his answer before he says it.

“Strong enough for people to want me. I’ll keep a low profile though, no reason to invite trouble.” One moment he’s standing there perfectly normal, and the next he’s shrunk and floating at eye level. He has to be less than a foot tall, a tiny little fairy that looked like a demon.

“What the?” You say, caught off guard by the sudden transformation. His little wingspan can’t be much more than a foot across, the delicate membrane so fragile looking when it’s this small.

“Low profile,” he explains, “Even if someone can see demons they’ll have a harder time spotting me like this.” With a beat of his wings he lands on your shoulder, no taller than your head. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go watch some TV. Do _not_  call me again.” He scratches your shoulder and hits you in the face with a wing as he takes off.

“Little bastard!” You call after him, trying to swat him out of the air but he’s too fast. You seriously consider ordering him back just to piss him off but you’d rather not have to deal with someone who can turn into a dragon. At least he’s out of your hair now, and you currently have an excuse to avoid any and all activities the councilors might throw at you. You head straight to your cabin to get some much needed sleep.

 

* * *

 

It’s over a week before you see him again.

Sure you can sense him here and there, some confusion, boredom, happiness, even the occasional arousal that you try your best not to think about, but through it all you don’t see a trace of him. You’re glad he’s decided to stay away, though you can’t help but feel that everything has gone back to being dull and routine. All the same classes, all the same activities, all the same cheer from the councilors, it’s getting on your nerves. At least when he’s around things are exciting.

One evening while you’re sitting in the amphitheater listening to bad karaoke and wondering if it’s possible to temporarily deafen yourself, he lands on top of your head. At first you just swat at him, thinking he was a bug or a bird but when he lands for the second time after avoiding your hand he speaks.

“Hit me and I bite your hand.” He says as he gets comfortable in your hair.

“Get off of me you pest.” You reach up and pluck him off, setting him in the seat next to you. He goes back to his normal size and lounges in his chair.

“I don’t understand you modern humans, nothing you do makes sense.” He says. Is it your imagination or did he look sick? You think you can see his ribs, but the lighting in the amphitheater isn’t the best. There’s no trace of hunger or suffering in his emotions though, so you guess he’s fine.

“We don’t have to work every moment of our lives, it leads to some interestin activities.” You say as one of the kids hits a note so horribly wrong. You don’t even have to worry about anyone overhearing you, their attempts at music masks anything you’d say.

“I noticed.”

The two of you sit in silence, well, as much as you can call preteens singing shitty pop songs in the background silence. Even though his emotions don’t feel like he’s suffering, you can’t help but notice that they are duller than normal. Can demons get sick? Just the thought is hilarious. Imagine a dragon with a cold.

“Are you wearing my ring?” He asks out of the blue.

“Uh, yeah.” You hold out your hand to show him. He nods and touches the stone and with a muted pop he’s gone.

What just happened? You blink at where he was sitting not a moment before and then look down at the ring. The stone is glowing again like it was when you found it.

 _'Demons can return to their soulstones whenever they want.'_   He says, but doesn’t say. It’s like he whispered it directly into your mind.

You look around anyway, just to make sure he’s not playing a trick on you. “So you’re, in the stone?”

_'Yeah, and I can talk telepathically with you while I’m in it. Just think of me and try to project your thoughts.'_

Okay, not that hard right? You concentrate on him and toss your thoughts his way. _'Like this?'_

_'Yeah, but don’t talk to me right now, I’m tired.'_

Well okay then. ' _Wait, so if you can go in and out of your stone, why didn’t you just jump out when you were in the cabin?'_

His sigh is transmitted straight into your brain, making the feeling behind it all that more powerful. _'Do you really think I’m that stupid? Once sealed a demon can’t come out until the first time someone wears the ring.'_

_'So I'm the first to wear it? If you’re so powerful why didn’t someone already come and take it?'_

_'Why do you think it was hidden?'_

Good point. If the floor hadn’t been rotten you’d have never found the ring. You can’t help but get the feeling that whoever sealed him away really wanted to keep him there. Just how dangerous is he? What could he have done to deserve five hundred years of solitude?

Thoughts of destroyed villages and murdered people fill you mind, but... so far he didn’t seem all that dangerous. If you guessed right, all he’s been doing is watching TV and spying on the girls. He hasn’t attacked anyone, destroyed anything, or even been that angry for the past week. It could be that he’s biding his time but you kind of doubt that.

A thought crosses your mind and you crack up laughing.

_'What’s so funny?'_

_'You’re just like a Pokemon, you even have your own Pokeball.'_ You think to him, still chuckling.

_'The fuck is a Pokemon?'_

_'Little animals that have powers like breathing fire and shooting electricity. People catch them and pit them against each other in fights.'_

_'And I thought humans couldn’t get any crueler.'_

_'What? Oh no, they’re not real, it’s a video game.'_   Yeah, he doesn’t know what that is. _'Uh, it’s like... You know what, I’ll just have to show you when we leave camp.'_

_'When are we leaving? And where are we going?'_

_'It’s another few weeks before camp is over, and we’ll be heading to California which is on the other side of America.'_

He’s quiet and you honestly think he’s gone to sleep when he finally asks, _'How big is it? America that is.'_

_'Pretty damn big, I’ll show you a world map later.'_

There’s a hum of agreement and he goes silent again. It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t feel good, even if his emotions don’t show that. Is he somehow shielding them from you? And if so you really want to learn how to do that.

 _'Are you hiding your emotions from me?'_ You ask, but he doesn’t answer. Ignoring you or asleep, it’s impossible to tell which.

Over the next few days he stays in his ring, only coming out to eat some electricity. Each time he does he looks poorer and poorer. He moves like a zombie and his skin is almost white, his bones becoming visible. If he gets sick, do you get sick too?

You confront him about it the morning of the camp scavenger hunt, trapping him in the bathroom with you as he comes out to eat. “Are you okay? You look sick.”

“Gee, thanks.” He says dully, sticking a claw into the outlet and siphoning enough power to make the lights dim.

“No I mean it, you look ill.” He isn’t even holding his wings up like he usually does, they’re hanging almost limp along his back.

“I’m fine.” He stares at the outlet even after he’s finished eating, a small amount of frustration bleeding into your mind. That’s another thing, you can’t read his emotions as easily anymore. It’s almost like they’re duller than they were before.

“No you’re not. What happens to me if you die? Am I going to die too? Am I going to get sick if you are?” You want answers, and his lethargy is starting to annoy you.

“No, if I die you just get hurt. I’m not going to die though.” With a pop, he’s gone back to his ring. You make an aggravated noise and then sigh, looking down at the ring. Something's wrong with him, but if he won’t talk to you about it then there’s nothing you can do. He’s a big boy, he can take care of himself. You push him out of your mind and finish getting ready. After breakfast they call everyone out to the forests edge.

The councilors are cheery as ever as they hand out lists of items that they’ve hid, but your mind is far away from some scavenger hunt. You can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with Sollux, the way his eyes and emotions are dimming more every day could not be a good sign. As far as you know though, he didn’t get hurt or eat something bad. Was it something about the electricity? Maybe it’s too different from natural energy and it’s making him sick.

You mull it over as you head out into the woods, traveling as far from the councilors and other kids as you can. After walking for over ten minutes, it’s like the camp disappears. It’s quiet, the wind blowing softly through the trees as your feet crunch the leaves on the forest floor. This is the only thing you like about coming to camp every year, North Carolina is absolutely beautiful and it holds such a different look from California.

As you’re walking along under the canopy there’s a quiet pop as Sollux comes out of his ring. You stop and look at him, wondering why he chose now to come out. The knobs of his spine are clearly visible, a little detail that you didn’t catch earlier. What worries you the most though are his eyes. They’re blank, almost black. Those are the eyes of an animal.

“Uh... Sollux?” He twitches at your voice and turns to you, those dead eyes boring into your own. Without a word he starts advancing and no matter how hard you try, you can’t feel his emotions anymore. This isn’t right, something is wrong with him.

“Sollux, just calm down okay?” You say, putting your hands up and backing away from him. Without warning he lunges forward and slams you into a tree. Your head bounces off the rough bark and before you can even blink the stars from your eyes his teeth are sinking into your shoulder.

You scream. This isn’t a nip or a surface wound, he bit you hard and you can feel your blood running down your arm. You sob from the pain and try to shove him off, but with how strong he is and how he's buried his teeth in you there’s no way you can move him without hurting yourself.

“S-stop, stop it, stop it!” You yell at him, voice several octaves higher than normal from the pain and fear. He pulls away only to latch his mouth onto the wound and drink. Oh god he’s going to eat you, he’s tired of being bound to you and he’s just going to kill you so he can leave. You feel sick.

“S- _stop_!” You cry again, but like before it doesn’t help. Your voice is too shaky and pained to be forceful enough to order him so all you can do is struggle and pray he just wants your blood. You claw and hit him but it’s no use, he keeps drinking and when the flow starts to slow he bites you again. Thank god it’s not as hard as the first time, but you still scream from the pain. You grab one of his horns and tremble, feeling like you’re going to pass out but, he’s stopped. He’s just standing there with his mouth on your shoulder, tensed up and not moving.

Another second passes like that before you realize what’s going on and shove him as hard as you can. To your astonishment, he actually stumbles backwards. You lean against the tree and grab your shoulder, blood steadily flowing over your fingers. Surprise and confusion blossom in your mind and you’re having a hard time telling if it’s his or yours. He takes a step toward you, arm outstretched and mouth covered in blood. In your haste to get away from him you trip over your own feet, causing you to crash to the ground and lay there stunned for a moment. He’s still staring at you, his eyes brighter than they were before. You don’t care if he’s back to normal, just two inches stand between the wound and your throat, he could have so easily killed you. He takes another step and it’s like he flips a switch, you scramble to your feet and run as fast as you can the other way.

He doesn’t follow and within minutes you run into the other kids who take one look at you covered in blood and call for help. The next few hours are a blur. They lead you to the nurse who fusses over you while an ambulance comes. You think you pass out sometime in the middle, the whole thing was disjointed and odd but you remember the ambulance ride and getting stitches. When you wake up next you’re in a hospital bed.

It feels like you’re floating, almost like the bed isn’t even there but every time you move the gravity comes rushing back for a second before you’re floating again. You lay like that for an eternity, not really thinking about anything.

Whatever drug they gave you starts to wear off and you can at least think a bit clearer even though you’re still kind of floating. Someone clears their throat and walks up to your bedside. He’s around your age, tanned and lean with a thin face. He looks vaguely familiar but you can’t place him.

“Sorry about what happened.” He says and it’s the lisp that gives him away. It’s Sollux, the guy that just tried to kill you.

Your heart rate kicks into overdrive and you struggle to sit up and get away from him. The little machine that is hooked up to you starts going crazy and Sollux is trying to calm you down.

“Wait wait, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bite you.” He says, backing up with his hands raised but then he disappears into his ring when a nurse comes in to see what’s the matter.

“Eridan dear what’s wrong? Lay back and calm down.” She comes over and forces you back into the bed. You point to the ring.

“Get that out of here, throw it away I don’t want it near me.” Your voice is trembling but you don’t even care.

The nurse looks at it oddly and presses a button on one of the machines hooked up to you, “I think you had a nightmare dear, go back to sleep.”

The floaty feeling is getting stronger again, “No, seriously throw it away.” But it was no use, your eyes are already closing. You faintly hear her say something else before everything goes black.

 

* * *

 

They bring you back to camp once your shoulder stops hurting so much. You knew better than to hope your parents would come and get you but still, the decision to stay on their cruise stings. They told you they couldn’t get away and camp was better for you than going home and being alone. All you could do was agree, arguing with them never got you anywhere.

Throughout the week or so you were in the hospital, Sollux never showed up again. His ring was gone as well but you suspect that he’s the one that took it and not the nurses. There’s no sign of his emotions at the back of your mind either, he’s staying away and you’re more than okay with that.

Camp is even more a pain in the ass once you return. That morning as you sit down for breakfast you’re surrounded by awestruck kids.

“What bit you?”

“Was it a bear? I bet it was huge!”

“Can we see your stitches?”

“That’s what you get for going into the cabin you know, you’re cursed now.” That one makes several of the kids closest to you lean away. If only they knew.

“I don’t know what bit me, it came up from behind. No you can’t see my stitches, and there’s no such thing as curses.” You go back to eating, ignoring the rest of their questions. That was easier said than done though and you eventually just stand up and leave. They try to follow of course but you’re exempt from all camp activities so they have little choice but to leave when the councilors call.

You like camp a lot more now that you don’t have to deal with useless classes and kids, you can just walk around the lake in peace and enjoy the scenery before you have to head back to the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. You take a canoe out on the lake. Even though your left arm is in a sling it’s not hard to get the boat to glide out into the middle of the lake which is exactly what you want. You lay back and enjoy the feeling of rocking, the sound of the waves lapping against the hull, and the peace that comes with being all alone on the water.

You start dozing off when something scrapes the bottom of the boat. Thinking you might have run aground on the island you sit up and come face to face with something out of a monster movie. It looks like a fish person covered in moss and weeds. It opens its wide flat mouth full of teeth and puts its claw tipped flippers on the side of your boat. The both of you just stare at each other for a long drawn out moment before the thing screeches and heaves your boat over.

The shock of the cold water takes your breath away and the moment you come up for air the thing has your foot in its grip, jerking you under. You kick and struggle, your shoulder screaming in protest of the rough treatment, but no matter what you do you can’t break free. Is this really how you die? Drowned by the creature from the black lagoon.

As your vision starts going black around the edges there’s a flash of light and something grabs you around the waist. You’re shooting up through the water like a torpedo and within seconds you’re in the clear. Fresh air has never tasted so sweet before, but your enjoyment is cut short when you realize who just saved you.

Sollux sets you down on the shore and immediately flaps away to perch on a nearby rock. For the first time in a week you can feel his emotions, and guilt is the one at the forefront of your mind.

Still, your shoulder is throbbing in a reminder of what he did. You sit down on a rock, looking out over the lake.

“… what was that?” You finally ask, your curiosity stronger than your fear.

“A feral demon. It has no intelligence or reasoning powers so it only lives to eat.”

You swallow hard, realizing how close you were to dying, “Why did you save me? How did you even know I was in trouble?”

“We’re still bound together, if you die I get hurt. It might even kill me. You on the other hand don’t have to worry about that. You’ll be hurt if I die but there’s no chance of it killing you.”

You look over at him, starting to relax a little, “… why did you attack me then?”

He grimaces, raising his wings and shoulders as he crosses his arms, “I don’t know. I’d been feeling bad, like… I _needed_  something but I couldn’t figure out what. It got to the point where instincts kicked in and I took what I needed without conscious thought.”

“So wait, you needed my blood? Why? Aren’t you eatin electricity?” You do remember thinking that it might not be good for him but you didn’t actually think that was the problem.

“Yeah, but apparently a bound demon has to feed off the human that they’re bound to, even if it’s just a little every once in awhile.” He shrugs, still staring at the ground.

“You couldn’t have told me that before then?”

“I didn’t know it before then. You’re the first human I’ve ever been bound to, I don’t know how some things work.” He finally looks up at you and you notice with a sinking feeling that his eyes are dulling again.

“So… if I feed you regularly, you won’t do that again?” You don’t want to, you’d rather let him fly off and never see him again, but that’s not an option here.

He nods, “I swear I didn’t mean to.” The guilt and almost… yearning coming off of him convinces you that he’s telling the truth. That emotion link comes in handy sometimes, though you’d like it a lot more if you could censor your feelings like he can.

You nod and sigh. “You need me to feed you now don’t you?”

He relaxes, wings drooping from their previously raised position, “Not right now no, but uh. The sooner the better?”

You stand and walk over to him, offering him your arm. It’s terrifying to think those teeth are going to be sinking into you again but he doesn’t take the offer. Instead he pushes your arm away and shakes his head. “I’m not going to bite you again, you’ve lost enough blood as it is.”

“Then how do you propose I feed you?” You take your arm back without protest, really not wanting those teeth near you anytime soon.

His eyes flick downward and you blush as you realize what he’s thinking. “Uh, go take a hot shower. It’s either that or I’ll eat your emotions for a few hours.”

You run your hand down your face and take a deep breath, “I don’t know if I can do it if you’re aware I’m doin it.”

“Just try not to think about me. Or uh… I can help you, if you want.”

“No no, I’m fine by myself.” You say quickly, turning and walking off, face burning. Of course the first person that offers to sex you up is a demon who only wants the food from it. Whatever, you’ll do it and hope you don’t have to feed him again for a very long time.

Thanks to it being in the middle of the day, all the other kids are off doing some activity or another so you get the showers all to yourself. You’re thankful for that, you definitely couldn’t do this if there were kids around. It’s already kind of gross you’re doing it in a public shower, you don’t need to add indecency and possible pedophilia to your list.

The hot water helps calm you down and relax you and you spend several minutes just letting it run over you. You take a deep breath of the steamy air and let it out in a gust. Alright, you can do this. Don’t think of the demon who’s waiting for you to finish. Goddammit.

This is so embarrassing, you’d almost rather him turn you into a zombie for the rest of the day but you know you’d end up hating it. If you can just rub a quick one out and have him be happy with it then by god you’ll rub one out.

You spend another minute just breathing and clearing your mind. Okay, sexy thought time. You imagine playboy bunnies and French maids as your hand slides down your stomach. The soap makes for a decent lube as you slowly stroke yourself, waking the little one up. You try not to think about much of anything that isn’t boobs and curvy girls as you stroke yourself, but Sollux keeps creeping in.

This is fucking impossible, you can’t believe you’re masturbating in a public shower at a camp for kids in order to feed a male demon. What has your life come to?

Great, and now you’re losing your hard on. Focus Eridan, you can do this. You up the pace, hoping that’ll help and yeah, now it’s starting to feel good. Your other hand goes down to cup your balls as you palm the head of your dick with every stroke. It’s so much easier to just not think as you do this, to only focus on the feeling of pleasure building in your gut.

You’re able to finally just let go and get into the moment, rolling your hips into your hand and biting your lip to keep from making any noise. Your movements get faster and faster until the tight spring in your belly uncoils in a blast of pleasure.

Okay, you’ll admit, that was highly satisfying. Though... is that your satisfaction or Sollux’s? You blush to the tips of your ears and try not to think about it. After washing and cleaning up, you head to your cabin for a nap. You can’t wait for the end of the week where you’ll finally be able to go home, though, that means you’ll have to deal with Sollux more. Hopefully he’ll be too distracted by all the new stuff to cause you much grief.

Yeah, hopefully.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It sure is nice to be rich, you never have to worry about anything except for the possibility of someone kidnapping you. But hey, now you have your own guard demon so that isn't going to happen this year. Sure your demon might attack you which still kind of freaks you out, but you do have to say you feel a bit safer with him around. You’ll never admit it to anyone but wandering around LA alone for the last several years often times terrified you. Not enough to get you to stop of course.

The end of summer camp is honestly the best part of it in your opinion. No more brats, no more cheerful councilors, and no more fucking bugs. You have three weeks before school starts up and you’ll have your house all to yourself, though it’s not like you’re going straight home. Every summer after camp you travel around and do whatever you want since your parents won’t be checking the credit cards after they see you’ve made the flight back. You could literally buy an island and they wouldn’t care. The only thing you don’t like about leaving summer camp is the wait for the bus.

You're sitting on the dusty bench on the side of the road watching as people pull up to take their kids home. Fancy cars for as far as the eye could see, everyone at this camp is well off. Kid after kid goes running into the arms of their parents, happily telling them about the great time they had as they’re whisked away back to their homes. Some kids are like you, getting into private cars or taxis because their parents couldn’t make it, but you’re the only one that takes the bus. It’s not like you couldn’t order a private car if you wanted, you just never get around to doing it.

Sollux is sitting next to you watching the cars with wide eyes. You had tried to explain what they were but you kind of just gave up halfway through when everything from motors to gas sailed over his head. He decided to try to find out for himself but after the third time he almost got ran over you had to order him to sit down and just watch. It’s a testament to how curious he is when he doesn't even get mad at you for using an order. It’s kind of cute, but you still remember the feeling of those teeth sinking into your shoulder so you keep a space between you.

“So when does your car get here?” He eventually asks after half the camp has already left. His eyes dart to each new car and his ears are going this way and that to pick up all the new noises.

“Don’t got one, we’re takin the bus.” Your fingers itch to grab your phone and check up on the news, but you know the moment you take it out he’s going to steal it from you. That or pelt you with questions.

“Why not? And what’s a bus?” He leans forward and looks up and down the line of cars, as if he could pick it out without knowing what it looked like.

“Because I didn’t rent one and a bus is like a car but longer. You’ll see soon as all these kids leave.” You say, slouching down in your seat and crossing your arms to stop yourself from getting your phone.

“Why didn’t you rent one?” He asks, turning to look at you.

“Because I forgot, now hush and watch the cars.” You grumble. Maybe he’ll drop it if you don’t look at him.

No such luck. “What’s wrong?” He asks. You can’t really sense his emotions all that well, he’s censoring them from you like he has been since he bit you. Of course you haven’t learned that trick so your disappointment is probably all too clear to him.

“Not a thing, I’m just tired a waitin.”

He gives you a long and searching look but he eventually looks away without prying. You’re grateful for that, it’s pathetic to admit you thought maybe this year your parents would arrange your travel back home like they always promise to do. Ha, they never have before but you can’t help yourself from hoping every year.

It’s only after every other kid has left that the bus pulls up. Sollux is on it before you can even grab your bags and you have to admit his invisibility comes in handy. You’d have a hard time explaining to your parents why you paid for two tickets. Like always, you head to the back where no one can stare at you and without thinking you pull your phone out.

You don’t even manage to get your news app open before Sollux is perched on the seat next to you, “What’s that?”

“A phone.” You say, causing a few people near you to glance back in confusion. Great, they probably think you’re crazy now. “Turn into a human and I’ll explain,” you whisper.

A moment later he’s sitting next to you looking like he did when he visited you in the hospital. Why is he tanned anyway? You would have figured he’d be pasty white for some reason and for that matter where did he get his clothes? He sure isn’t wearing a shirt while he’s a demon but now he’s got a yellow t-shirt on, some modern pants, and... flip flops.

You shove that from your mind for now, “Can they see you?” When he nods you show him your phone. “Okay, this is like a mini computer that you can use to talk to people.”

He blinks at you, completely at a loss. How the hell were you supposed to explain this to him? He was from the time where a computer would have been witchcraft and talking to people across the country would have probably gotten you hanged.

You pinch the bridge of your nose and sigh, “This is impossible.”

“Sorry. Is there a book I can read to learn this stuff?”

You think for a moment before loading up Wikipedia, “Yeah sort of. Here, type what you want to know about in this box. You have to poke it, and then you poke this button and it’ll load up an article.” He takes your phone and starts tapping away at it, eyes wide with childlike wonder.

He needs help for the first few searches and when he hits the wrong button but after a few minutes he settles in and reads, leaving you with nothing to do. Well you could dig out your DS but then you’d have to explain that to him and you just don’t want to. Why did you think giving him your phone was a good idea? You never bring your laptop since it’s more likely to be stolen on your cross country excursions but now you're wishing you had it. Not like he’d let you keep that either.

You slump in your seat and stare out at the trees. It’s not long before you can see the ocean, such a different sight from the west coast but charming in its own right. You prefer the big waves in California to these little ones, not like you surf though, it’s just prettier in your opinion.

Once you get into the first city you can’t help but nudge Sollux and point out the window. It’s like a scene right out of a movie, he immediately crawls over you and presses his face to the glass, eyes darting this way and that to try and take it all in. It’d be funny if he hadn’t just kneed you in the leg. You move out of his way and snatch your phone back, rubbing your thigh as you finally check the news like you wanted to.

Nothing really interesting happened during camp like usual but there are a few movies and video games that’ve come out that you’ve been wanting. First stop in LA will be your favorite theater then.

Sollux tugs on your shirt and starts pointing at traffic lights, trucks and anything else that catches his eye, demanding that you explain it all. With a sigh, you do but a lot of it goes over his head like usual. It doesn’t seem to faze him though and when the bus leaves the city he snatches your phone right out of your hands.

“Hey where did the thing go?” He asks, baffled by your news app not being wikipedia.

You snatch the phone back and load up the website, “If you’d ask like a normal person instead a stealin it I would a loaded it up for you. Here, knock yourself out.” You hand it back to him and watch as he curls up in the seat.

He doesn’t give it back to you for the rest of the ride, not even when he presses against the window to see the cities you’re passing through. You’re surprised at how fast he’s learned to use the phone, he’s clicking links and searching like a pro. Well, like a pro that often gets lost on a website and needs you to tell him how to get back to whatever he was doing. While the scenery was pretty, you find yourself watching him more often as the minutes crawl by. He searches for obvious things like computers and electricity, but then you’ll look over and catch him on a website about clowns.

You snort, “What the hell are you searchin for?”

“I don’t know, but modern humans are really weird.” He says without looking up. You can’t really argue with that.

He goes through websites about cars, phones, dolphins, robots, the medicinal properties of frog skin, America, the constitution, monkeys, both world wars, toilet paper, and so many other weird and disconnected things before you arrive at your stop.

“Come on, you can keep playin with that but you gotta get off with me.” You say as you grab your bags and head for the front of the bus. He giggles and you can practically feel the amusement rolling off of him.

“I’d love to get off with you.” He says as he follows you off the bus. The driver gives him a long look and shakes his head as he closes the door and drives away.

“What?” You say, looking back at him. He’s still staring at your phone, but he’s grinning now. The innuendo in what you said hits you and you blush, hoisting your bags and leading the way into the airport, “Oh real mature, shut up.”

If he has a comeback for that he never says it, he’s too busy staring around the airport in awe. It’s pretty impressive, but you can’t wait until he sees the airplanes.

“Follow me and try not to get lost.” You say. He nods and trails along after you like a lost puppy, turning this way and that to take it all in. You expertly navigate the crowds, having more than enough experience with places a hundred times busier than this, but he keeps almost hitting people. It’s rather amusing, but you reach back and grab his shirt to keep him from causing an accident. When you come up next to a window showing the runways his eyes practically bug out of his head. They get even wider, if that’s possible, when one of the airplanes takes off.

“How is it doing that?” He asks, hands pressed to the glass and eyes never leaving the plane.

“You can Google it later, for now give me back my phone and disappear so I can get through security.”

“Why do I need to disappear?” He asks, though he miraculously does hand your phone back.

“Because I only payed for one ticket and these people don’t allow stowaways.” You say, looking around and pointing to a nearby potted plant. “Use that for cover and go little demon.”

He does as you asks and flies over to hover in front of your face, “If you need me, don’t call.” With a cheeky grin he flies off and leaves you to wait in the lines alone with a dying phone. Asshole.

It’s around the time you’re passing through the baggage check that a thought occurs to you, can the cameras pick him up? Are they going to shut down the airport because they see a little imp flying around? You spend a tense moment with worry curling in your gut before you realize that if that were the case more people would be aware of demons. Maybe it was like those stupid bigfoot videos, the demon shows up blurry or something. You relax and chide yourself for being so stupid as you grab your stuff and attempt to find an unused outlet to charge your phone.

The airport isn’t a big one, but it does offer a non-stop flight to California. There are plenty of people here, making the large room echo with chatter and the nearby food courts fill the air with delicious smells. It reminds you that you haven’t eaten yet, but you’ll take care of that later. You have an hour before your flight and usually you’d spend the time surfing the internet or playing on your DS, but this time you look around for signs of Sollux. You see him here and there, flying around before disappearing into the crowd. He’s like a hyperactive bird, swooping down to watch as someone types on a laptop and then flying away to the next person or to watch the airplanes out the windows. Eventually you grow bored of watching him flit through the crowds and turn your attention to your phone. It doesn’t seem like a minute later he sits down next to you.

“Let me see your phone.” He says, holding out his hand.

You don’t even look up, “No. Let me have my own phone for at least ten minutes.” There’s no worry about anyone overhearing and thinking you’re crazy for talking to yourself, the airport is way too loud for anyone to bat an eye at you.

He huffs, “How am I supposed to learn anything if you won’t let me?”

“Go watch someone else, but don’t steal anythin and stay out of sight.” There’s a spike of annoyance and after another moment he takes off, hitting you with his wing as he goes.

You grumble and rub your arm, glaring at his retreating figure before going back to ignoring him in favor of your phone. It isn’t until your stomach starts growling that you remember you still haven’t eaten. You’d really rather not eat airport food but that’s all you’re getting so you suck it up and grab a burger meal from the busy food court.

Sollux lands on your table while you’re eating, looking at your fries as if he’s never seen them before. Which honestly is probably the truth.

“What are these?” He asks as he picks up a fry as big as his arm.

“It’s called a French fry, it’s potato dipped in boilin grease.” You explain. He sniffs at it before taking a bite and after a moment of consideration he eats the rest of it and grabs another.

“You can eat food?” Had that little asshole been lying to you about the feeding thing? If so you’re going to strangle him, right here right now, regardless of all the people around.

“Yeah, but it’s just for the taste and like, only a bit of energy. I can’t survive off of it.” He says with a mouth full of potato. Gross, but uh, you look around to make sure no one was staring at what probably looked like French fries being eaten by a ghost.

“I know they can’t see you but can they see the fries disappearin?” You ask, watching him stuff more in his mouth.

He shakes his head and thankfully swallows before answering. “If it’s something little like this my aura fools humans into thinking they can’t see it. It’s not like I’m invisible, it’s just the magic coming off of me makes their eyes gloss over when they look at me.”

“Okay, yeah, I’ve read similar things like that.” Sure it was in children’s fiction but still, same principle.

“What are you eating?” He asks, still munching on the fries. At this rate he won’t leave any for you.

“It’s called a burger, beef and bread with some vegetables.” After you show him your burger he stands up and walks over to you, holding out his little hand.

“I want to try it.”

You snort and pinch off a bit, “Will it even fit in your mouth?” The answer is no but he still gives it his best, eventually just biting a bit off of the bun and then some of the patty. His eyes slide closed and he lets himself fall, tails catching him and lowering him to the table in one smooth movement. He practically inhales the rest of his piece and once it’s gone he holds out his hand again.

“No, this is mine. If you want your own go get it.” You don’t really think about what you said as you resume eating, but when Sollux gets up and flies into the kitchen of one of the stores you realize you just gave him permission to steal. Oops, but oh well, it gets him out of your hair and you’re able to eat in peace.

He eventually flies back over while you’re throwing your garbage away. His little belly is practically distended and satisfaction is pouring off of him as he lands on your bags and disappears.

_Going to sleep, don’t wake me._  His voice drifts into your mind. Was that where his ring has been? You’ve forgotten about it ever since he took it from your hospital room. After a moment of hesitation, you dig it out and put it back on.

You’re rather surprised that he sleeps through boarding and takeoff, you would have guessed he’d be thrilled to experience that. He’ll probably complain when he wakes up but in the mean time you manage to beat the Laverre and Anistar gyms and catch a Noibat. You’re concentrating so hard on training the thing that you almost come out of your chair when Sollux speaks right next to your ear.

“What’s that?” He asks. Once you manage to get your heart rate under control you glare at him.

“A little warnin next time, Jesus.” He doesn't even apologize, just stares up at you waiting for an answer. You guess it’s a good thing you’re in first class, everyone around is either watching a movie or asleep.

“This is a video game, the Pokemon thing I told you about.” He’s already grabbing for it by time you finish explaining but you hold it out of reach. “No you can’t play it, and my phone won’t work while in the air so you get to watch or go back to sleep.”

He growls but settles down on the plush armrest to watch. Of course his quiet doesn’t last long, within five minutes he’s already asking you question after question about what you’re doing. Before you know it, you’re explaining the entire Pokemon world to him, how types work, the stats, evolution, the stories and the lore. Even if it is kind of a stupid topic, he’s interested and eventually you just let him play your game while you explain things. He’s pretty good at it, although it’s hard to be bad at Pokemon. You let him use your items and catch whatever, not like you’re going to save it anyway.

The rest of the flight goes by so quickly you’re almost disappointed when it’s time to disembark. It’s rare you’re able to just talk to someone and have them interested in what you’re saying, especially about something as childish as Pokemon, but then you get to see Sollux’s reaction to a real airport and everything is good again. His jaw drops as you leave the plane and enter the incredibly crowded building. Before you can even say a word he’s gone, flying around and inspecting every new thing. You leave him to it as you gather your bags and arrange for a ride to a damn good five star hotel downtown. Tonight it’s relaxing and getting back to luxury for you.

It sure is nice to be rich, you never have to worry about anything except for the possibility of someone kidnapping you. But hey, now you have your own guard demon so that isn't going to happen this year. Sure your demon might attack you which still kind of freaks you out, but you do have to say you feel a bit safer with him around. You’ll never admit it to anyone but wandering around LA alone for the last several years often times terrified you. Not enough to get you to stop of course.

Sollux keeps exploring while you wait for the car and you’re able to sit in solitude for a few minutes. The airport is so packed you only see him when he flies over the crowd but he always dives right back down. How he’s not hitting anybody is a mystery to you.

You have to order him back to you when the car finally arrives but you don’t have to encourage him to turn human and jump in. The driver laughs as Sollux glues himself to the windows, looking like a kid at Christmas.

“You from out of town?” He asks. There’s no sign that Sollux even heard so you answer for him.

“Yeah, he is at least.” Please don’t ask where he’s from.

“Where’s he from?” Damn it.

“He’s from uh, Hawaii.” You say the first remote place that pops into your mind, and honestly he does look kind of Hawaiian with his tanned skin.

“Oh really? Nice, I’ve got family out there.” The driver says something in what you assume to be Hawaiian and you go ahead and open your mouth to explain why Sollux doesn’t understand what the hell he just said, but you end up shutting it with a snap as Sollux answers back in a perfect accent.

They carry on a conversation while you sit there feeling like you missed a step down the stairs. Since when was Sollux fluent in Hawaiian? Was it a gift of tongues kind of thing? If so then you’ll definitely have to use that to your advantage, get him to translate some documents and books for you. It’d be great to hear history from its original source, you don’t really trust a lot of the official translations.

Sollux snaps you out of your thoughts with a tug on your sleeve and he points out the window. “What is that?”

“What, the billboard? It’s like a big ad.” You answer automatically, more than used to his questions by now.

“What’s an ad?” He asks. Before you can answer the driver laughs.

“Wow, you must’ve been out on one of the little islands to not know what an ad is. It’s a sign showing off something that someone is selling.”

“How do they decide what goes on it? Or who gets to use it. Are they all owned by the same person?” He asks rapid fire, leaning toward the driver.

It’s like you’re not even there for the rest of the ride, the driver answers all of Sollux’s many questions. You don’t know where this guy gets the patience to answer questions about everything from fashion to the sewers of all things, but he calmly explains whatever Sollux wants to know.

You make sure to give the guy a big tip once you’re at your hotel and you have to drag Sollux away by the shirt to get him to shut up and let the guy go. The driver waves and laughs as he drives away and you almost jump out of your skin as a hand reaches into your pocket. Sollux fishes your phone out and doesn’t even react when you slap his arm.

“Don’t do that, you scared the hell out a me.” You say, tugging Sollux toward the hotel. “And how do you know Hawaiian?”

“Gift of tongues, got it from my mom.” He doesn’t look up from your phone as he follows along.

“You have a mom?”

“Yeah, she’s a dragon.” He looks up and grins but then the revolving doors catch his attention and it’s all you can do to just get him to go through them instead of playing with them. The lobby of the hotel is gorgeous, no expense spared in the presentation. There are arm chairs and wide screen TVs for those waiting, but you’d much rather be in your own room away from people right now. You’ve had enough of crowds for one day.

He thankfully searches things on your phone while you check in, making the process a lot faster than it probably would have been otherwise. He doesn’t look up again until you’re in the elevator.

“What are we doing in this little room?” He asks, looking around.

You heave a sigh, “It’s an elevator, a box that lifts us up or down.” The doors slide closed and he jerks as the elevator starts moving.

“Whoa! How’s it doing that?” He crouches down and taps the floor, which gets a chuckle out of one of the other passengers.

You roll your eyes, “Why don’t you Google it, that’s why you have my phone after all.” He gives you a look but takes your advice and leaves you blissfully alone as the elevator climbs all the way to the top.

Your penthouse room is as opulent as you could have hoped for, the carpets plush enough you sink an inch into them and everything high tech and clean. Sollux wastes no time in becoming a demon again and inspecting everything he can get his claws on. You smirk and go open the curtains, giving you both a gorgeous view of the sun setting on downtown LA. His reaction is exactly what you hoped it’d be, unrestrained awe.

He’s even more awed when you show him the computer and exactly what it could do. You should have known better than to do it tonight though, he demands you explain everything about it from the start bar to what a web browser is. It takes forever and he’s constantly asking more and more questions about everything. By time you head to the bathroom for a nice long soak you’re ready to strangle him, a feeling that just grows when he calls after you that he’s hungry.

Fuck him, tonight you’re going to relax and not think about your demon that never shuts up. You get the water deliciously hot, sprinkle in some of the bath salts to make the room fill with the smell of vanilla, and you relax.

Or you would if Sollux didn’t burst in five minutes later complaining about something he’s screwed up on the computer. He’s like a bumbling puppy that just saw you naked and you swear you’re going to kill him before the night is over.

 

* * *

 

The first thing you do the next day after breakfast at a quaint local place is head to your favorite theater. They have little private rooms that they let people buy for a day and you can watch anything they have in their archives, including recent and not yet released stuff. You manage to watch a few before Sollux wakes up and it’s as simple as threatening him with an order to keep him quiet through the rest.

He didn't need an order though and you figure since he's been decent lately you'll get him a present. You've pretty much wasted the day anyway, nothing left to do but go shopping.

When you get to the mall you have to grab Sollux's shirt to prevent him from running off. "You can explore later, but for now stick with me."

"Why?" He asks, peevishly looking back at you.

"Because. Now come on." You lead him through the busy mall, constantly having to grab his shirt or pull him out of a store when something catches his eye. It’s like trying to lead a puppy through a sausage shop, everything looks enticing to him and he can’t keep his focus on anything for more than a minute. Several people laugh as you drag him around but whatever, it’s either do this or never leave. Finally you arrive at the Verizon store.

"Go find a phone you like " You set him loose and head for the sleek black and red stand full of the newest models, expertly navigating your way through the crowds.

"Wait seriously? You're going to get me a phone?" He asks, following along not so expertly. The store wasn’t quiet, but his voice carries over the babble. You’re going to have to teach him about inside voices.

"Yeah, so you'll leave mine alone." As if to prove your point he had it right now. "You can either pick out a new one or you can have my old one but dammit you're gettin your own."

He grins and heads off to check them all out. It’s pretty amusing to watch, before you’re even done picking out your new one he’s managed to get two sales representatives trying to help him. You smile at his antics and after you get the model you want you go over to check on him.

“I don’t know what that means but I just want it to go fast so I don’t have to wait.” He’s saying as you walk up.

“Yes sir, but you still need to have some other criteria than speed. These models over here all rank the same in speed, but they all have other differences in their features that set them apart.” One of the sales reps says, trying to show Sollux some of the phones.

He doesn’t even look at them, he just keeps his undivided attention on the sales guy’s face. “Which is the fastest though? I want to load the web stuff fast so I can learn.”

“Well sir,” the other sales person says, “They’re all the same speed, but are you looking for a better camera, more processing power, or…”

“What is that?”

“Processing power?” The guy asks, gearing up to deliver a spiel on the technology of the phones, but Sollux cuts him off.

“No, a camera.” The faces the sales guys make are priceless and you can’t help but laugh. Taking pity on them, you cut in.

“Sorry, my friend is from out of town.” You say as you put a hand on Sollux’s shoulder. “I’ll help pick his phone out.”

The process goes so much smoother now that you’re doing the talking, though Sollux of course doesn’t shut up. He keeps asking questions, most of which you ignore or gloss over, and finally you both have new phones and he’s been added onto your plan. Unlimited internet of course, you’ll have a hard enough time explaining to your parents why there’s another line on the plan without having to explain the outrageous data bill.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen anyone as happy as he is with his new phone. He doesn’t even look up as you lead him through the mall to various stores even though earlier he was practically bouncing off the walls. Somehow you’re able to shop in peace, buying some new clothes, the movies you want, and even a 3DS for him and plenty of games for both of you.

The only time he actually looks up is when you pass by the food court with its myriad of delicious smells. He demands you buy him pretty much everything so he can try it and you’re starting to think you might spend more money on food than you did on electronics. Eventually though he just can’t physically eat anymore and he passes out in his ring until that night. He gets back on his phone and you’re pretty sure he doesn’t move at all through the night, he’s still in the same spot when you wake up.

Over the next few days you go check out the museums and anything that’s new around downtown. Sollux stays glued to his phone for the most part but in some of the places he actually looks around. You’ve always loved going to the museums and as such you’ve been to each several times, but with him there it’s like a whole new experience. He knows a lot about the technology and everyday life from when he was free and you’re awed by how much the history books got wrong. You don’t even have to pry the information out of him, he seems happy to share it, though honestly you think he’s just happy that for once he knows more about something than you do.

If that’s the case, it doesn’t last long, soon it’s your turn to explain everything that happened while he was in his ring. You take great pleasure in telling him, and without meaning to you often gather a small crowd as you move through the museums.

It’s nice, being able to take someone to all your favorite places and have them be interested in what you had to say. You can’t remember the last time you did anything like this, no one at school cares and your parents never have the time. The only person that would go with you lives too far away and anyway he never lets you buy him a plane ticket, saying something about how it’s charity. Karkat has always been one stubborn asshole.

The only thing better than being able to show Sollux your city is coming back to your hotel and relaxing with your games. He was ecstatic when you gave him his 3DS and he promptly started his own Pokemon game. He gets pretty good at it and you’re soon trading and battling each other. It’s only when he starts up his Zelda game that things get interesting.

“Mother fuck shit ass fucking bastard of a cow!” He screeches at the screen one night, scaring you half to death.

Once you actually process what he said, you laugh, “What the fuck Sol?” You go over and sit next to him on his bed so you can watch. He’s in a boss fight and it’s not going too good.

“Damned rump fed giglet son of a bison _fucker_!” He hisses as the little Link on screen dies and the game over music plays. You can’t help but laugh at him, he’s almost as creative as Karkat is with his insults.

“Oh my god Sol, calm down and try it again, it’s just a game.” You smile and settle in for what promises to be an entertaining night as he restarts the game.

He doesn’t disappoint, soon snarling and throwing insults at the game again as the boss fight starts back up. You try to hold it in, you really do, but when he calls the game a ‘cockered fat-kidneyed death-token’ you lose it. He hisses and snarls at you but you’re too busy holding your stomach and gasping for breath to care. You laugh so hard you have tears rolling down your cheeks and your sides hurt.

When your fit subsides to just giggles, you risk looking at him. That was a mistake, he’s glaring so hard at you it was comical so of course you burst out laughing again. This time though he doesn’t just snarl at you, he shoves you off the bed with his feet.

You snort inelegantly as you hit the floor and laugh even harder. It doesn’t help that he pokes his head over the side of the bed and scowls down at you. It takes forever for you to calm down, and even after you manage to catch your breath again you’re still giggling. At least he’s calmed down too, you can tell he’s trying not to smile.

“Sol, oh my god I cannot wait to introduce you to console games.” You chuckle, stretching out on the plush carpet and grinning up at him.

“What’s a console game?” He asks, pillowing his head on his crossed arms.

“One you play on a TV, they’re bigger and better than handheld ones and your reactions are gonna be priceless.”

His eyes narrow, “It’s not funny.”

“It’s hilarious. I haven’t laughed that hard in ages, not since Kar cussed out Amnesia.” You smile as you remember that night. It was a miracle that Karkat didn’t give himself an aneurysm from how hard he raged at that game.

“Who’s Kar?”

“Karkat, a friend of mine that lives out of state. I’ll definitely introduce you to him later.” The arguments, the cussing, the snark, their meeting will be glorious.

He hums thoughtfully, “Cool… so, can you help me beat this damn thing?”

You smirk, “What? Can’t do it by yourself?”

The bed creaks as he sits up and then again as he leans forward and beans you over the head with a pillow.

“Hey!” You sputter, but before you can say anything else he hits you again. It doesn’t hurt of course, these pillows were the softest money could buy, but it’s the principle of the matter. You ineffectively fend him off as you scramble up and grab a pillow off of your bed, immediately retaliating. He doesn’t play fair at all, using his wings, tails, and powers to pummel you with pillows from all sides. It isn’t until you’re both in a heap and breathless on one of the beds do you realize you just had a pillow fight with a demon.

“Oh my god my life is out of control.” You groan, snorting afterward at the absurdity of it all. Still, this was the most fun you’ve had in a long, long time.

“Good for you, now will you beat this asshole for me or not?” He plops his DS onto your chest and sits up, refolding his wings as he watches you expectantly.

“Ha, yeah yeah you needy asshole, I’ll get him.” After sitting up and fixing the mess you’ve made of your hair and clothes, you show him how to beat the boss.

Turns out you both stay up half the night cussing out this boss as you keep trying to beat him.

 

* * *

 

The days fly by and it’s hard to believe you’ve been back for a week now. Usually the time crawls, but this year it seems like there isn’t enough time to do everything you want to before school starts.

When the weekend comes you go rollerblading in Elysian park. There’s thankfully a nice breeze that alleviates some of the heat but you’re still sweating from the light exertion. The trees manage to partially mute the ever present sounds of cars and the air is filled with dogs barking and Sollux yelling as he tumbles into a bush. He had seen someone rollerblading the other day and he wanted to try it himself but, well, he’s not good at it. You can’t help but laugh as he picks himself out of the fifth bush he’s been tangled in today.

“How do you have no sense a balance?” You ask with a grin.

“I have great balance thank you, just not when I’m a human.” He glares at you as he picks himself up, almost busting his ass again as one skate tries to slide out from under him. He looks ridiculous, wearing big knee pads and elbow pads as well as a helmet. If you didn’t know any better you’d mistake him for just another nerd in the park.

“Sorry but I’d rather not be one a those people that go rollerskatin alone and if you’re invisible you might run into someone and cause an accident.”

“Yeah yeah, but I can’t balance as a human.” He grumbles, holding out his hands and wobbling on his skates. “Let me try something.”

His face scrunches up in concentration and after a moment his wings and tails appear, somehow not ripping through his clothes. Now he looks like some prankster wearing a costume, at least until he spreads his wings and shows just how real they are.

“There, and I don’t think people will be able to see them either.” He says with a grin, skating off with his tails and wings slightly extended and a hell of a lot steadier on his feet.

You hurry to catch up to him, “Whoa whoa, what do you mean you don’t think?”

“Just what the words mean, I don’t know if they can or not but hey if someone does freak we can just say it’s an art project or something.” He says.

“Even when you’re movin them? Don’t think that’s gonna fool anyone. And besides, if they are invisible you’ll likely clothesline someone with your wings.” The way he’s constantly shifting them to keep his balance makes it hard for even you to skate beside him, and you can see the damn things.

“Well we’re about to find out.” He says, pointing to a couple jogging your way. You seriously expect them to scream and run the other way but they pass you without a second glance.

“Congrats, you actually managed to do somethin right.” You deadpan. He thrusts his wing out and pushes you into a bush, skating away and laughing as you try to pull yourself out. The damn branches tangle with your shirt and get caught in your skates so by time you’re back on your feet he’s out of sight. When you catch up to him though, he’s going to regret it.

The chase turns into an impromptu game of hide and seek, him staying just out of sight around a tree or corner. You know that asshole is cheating though, no way he can skate through grass so easily without floating himself. You’re about to just give up on him when you hear him yell right down the road.

Thinking he fell over again or hit someone, you hurry over with a smirk on your face. That fades once you round the corner and see him pinned to the ground by a lion.

Your mouth falls open in shock as this huge creature, it’s at least the size of a truck, raises her paw (no mane so it’s a girl right?) and brings it crashing down on Sollux. Yet the paw never connects, Sollux stops it with a crackle of red and blue psychic power and forces it back up, knocking the lion off balance and letting him fly free.

It looks like he’s in the clear but this lion is wicked fast, already up and pouncing at him again. There’s an almighty crackle of energy that makes the hair on your arms stand on end as he blasts it back to the ground.

It doesn’t take long for the tawny furball to pick herself up and roar at him. The sound is so loud and powerful you have to cover your ears and stumble to keep your balance. There’s no way that didn’t go unheard by everyone else in the park but you don’t hear screaming. Then again you don’t hear much of anything right now with your ears ringing like they are.

The sheer force of the sound pushes Sollux back but he quickly rights himself and dive bombs the lion. She might be fast but Sollux is faster, weaving around her paws and head, giving her little blasts here and there that seem to just enrage her more.

You’re so engrossed in the fight that you don’t notice the person behind you until they have their arm around your neck. “Why don’t you hand over that ring and I’ll leave you be.”

Whoever it is has a voice as deep as the earth and arms as big as a professional weight lifter. You can just feel it in how solid he is that this dude could snap your neck with a twitch of a muscle.

“W-What?” You intelligently reply.

“The ring with his soulstone on it, give it to me or else.” He tightens his grip on your neck to the point it’s getting difficult to breathe.

He doesn’t even flinch as you scratch at his arm and try to get away, cursing the fact you’re wearing roller blades so all you’re doing is slipping ineffectively against him. Is this beef head one of those hunters Sollux warned you about? Is that why he wants the ring, for power? Whatever his reason, he isn’t getting it.

“Sollu-agh!” You yell, the last bit getting cut off as he chokes you. Too late though, Sollux heard and here he comes with a lion right on his tails. In hindsight maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

When he’s only a few yards away he suddenly shoots straight up and stops in mid-air, confusing the hell out of the lion. As she’s trying to stop herself, Sollux drops down and lands on her back. He grabs the thing’s ears and steers her like one would a horse, except this horse was several tons of claws and teeth, all of it trying to dislodge the little intruder on its head.

While the lion rodeo distracts beef master delux, you elbow him as hard as you can. It probably feels like a soft tickle but it surprises him enough to let up his grip so you can slide out of it and, well, not get anywhere. Your skates fuck up your escape attempt by sliding out from under you and he easily grabs your shirt and pulls you back to him.

This time though he doesn’t bother demanding, he just pries the ring off your finger and drops you back onto your ass. You’re helpless to do anything as he slips the ring on and yells out, “Stop!”

Both demons immediately freeze and you can feel Sollux’s annoyance as clear as day as McBeef walks over you toward them. You scramble to your feet.

“Wait! You can’t just steal my damn ring, give it back!” He doesn’t even acknowledge you as you skate up beside him. You get your first good look at the guy and you’d say he was middle eastern, maybe Egyptian, with long silky black hair and some scratched up sunglasses.

When you grab his arm he just pushes you aside, sending you falling back on your ass because of these fucking skates. You hurry and remove them, knowing they’re your only chance to outrun this brute but right now they’re hurting more than helping. Now that the fight is over, the big lion changes into a much smaller, more human form. She’s small and built like a fighter, her skin (fur?) is fluffy and tawny brown like a lion’s coat. She has two fluffy ears perched on her head, wicked claws at the end of her fingers, and a tail curling around her feline like feet. In other words, she looks just like a furry.

“You will not hurt anyone including yourself without an order, do you understand?” Brutus says, facing Sollux.

You can feel Sollux struggle against the order, but to your surprise he just gives up and relaxes, “Yes sir.”

“Sol, what the hell are you doin? Get your ring back!” You make it an order and he springs into action. Unfortunately so does the girl. She manages to catch him by the tails and slam him into the ground using his own momentum against him.

“Nice try. You will not touch this ring.” The big guy says. Sollux’s annoyance spikes and he looks at you, worry starting to creep in.

There’s no way you can out muscle this guy, no way you can outrun him either, but you have to do something. As he keeps telling Sollux what not to do your mind races. How were you supposed to get out of this and save your demon? Everything you think of sounds stupid and useless but you’re running out of time so you go with the next idea that pops into mind.

You bite his hand.

You regret it immediately. He tastes like sweat and there’s no telling what he’s had his hand on but despite the gross factor you get the intended effect. His hand goes splayed in pain and within the few seconds you have before he reacts, you manage to grab the ring and yank it off.

Your burst of triumph is echoed by Sollux and the next thing you know you’re knocked down as a wave of noise, heat, and light rolls over you. You have to shut your eyes and cover your ears against the sudden onslaught and the sheer amount of energy coming from Sollux makes your skin prickle uncomfortably. It feels like you’re being hit with the full force of a thunderstorm and you’re about to be sucked into a tornado. As quickly as it started, the attack stops and familiar arms encircle your waist, pulling you up into the sky.

You blink the stars from your eyes and look down to see the odd pair spread eagle on the ground, knocked out cold. Several people are running toward them to see what happened. You guess even Sollux couldn’t keep such a powerful attack concealed, though you have to wonder what it looked and sounded like to everyone else. He flies you away from the park and back toward your hotel before you can think too much on it.

“What did you do?” You ask, cranking your neck around to get a look at him.

“Sonic boom basically, they’ll be fine when they wake up, whenever that is ehehe.” He says, the feeling of pride glowing at the back of your mind.

You scoff and shake your head, looking back down to the city spread out below you. “Don’t get too full a yourself, I’m the one who saved your ass.”

The good feeling turns to annoyance, “I could have gotten myself out of that whenever I wanted to.”

“Oh really? How so? Because if I remember correctly you couldn’t hurt him or touch the ring, how the hell do you think you could a won that fight then?” The view from up here was gorgeous, you’re almost sad to see the hotel.

“He didn’t say a thing about using my powers to take it back.” He says slyly, setting down on the roof.

“Wait wait,” you turn around and glare at him, “Are you sayin you could a took back your ring at any time?”

His stupid grin confirms it before he even speaks, “Yeah.”

You’re going to punch him in his stupid looking teeth, but instead you take a deep breath and pinch the bridge of your nose, “So why didn’t you?”

“Using that much control over powers like mine would show exactly how powerful I am, better if they think I’m just some average demon.” He says with a shrug.

“... Just how powerful _are_  you?” You have the feeling you’re going to be asking him that a lot.

“Hella.” He says with a perfectly serious face, though thanks to your mind link you can tell that he’s fighting a smile.

Hella powerful huh? Jesus what have you gotten yourself into? You rub your face and then fix your hair from the mess the wind’s made of it, “How did they even find you? Is this a thing I’m gonna have to deal with now? Random attacks by beef cakes that want to steal you?”

He snorts, “They must’ve already been in the park, it’s not like they tracked me down specifically. So long as I stay in disguise I should be fine.”

“Then stay in disguise,” you say sternly, pointing at him, “I bit a sweaty dudes hand for you today, I’m sure as fuck not doin it again.” Speaking of which, you now need to go wash your mouth out. You turn and head to the stairs.

The asshole laughs and perches his small form on your shoulder, “You’re braver than me that’s for sure, I could smell that guy’s sweat even with a nose full of lion fur.”

You gag and brush him off, “Shut up, I don’t wanna hear it.”

“You know what else he smelled like? I could tell you what was on his hands.” Sollux says, following you down the stairs with a shit eating grin.

You cover your ears and speed up, “La la la I’m not listenin.” He doesn’t give up and even though you can barely hear him you still run down the stairs to get away from him. You end up getting your revenge by washing his mouth out with soap but even as you’re laughing at his outraged sputtering, you can’t help but worry what would happen if those two found you again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how well this chapter flows or how well I keep them in character (it's probably not well), but if I keep picking at it I'll never get it done so here it is. Like always criticism, advice, and betaing is welcome.


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